Environmental Health and Ecological Science Department, Ifakara Health Institute, P. O. Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania.
School of Life Science and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
Malar J. 2021 Oct 23;20(1):415. doi: 10.1186/s12936-021-03945-2.
Supplementary tools are required to address the limitations of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS), which are currently the core vector control methods against malaria in Africa. The eave ribbons technology exploits the natural house-entry behaviours of major malaria vectors to deliver mosquitocidal or repellent actives around eave spaces through which the Anopheles mosquitoes usually enter human dwellings. They confer protection by preventing biting indoors and in the peri-domestic outdoor spaces, and also killing a significant proportion of the mosquitoes. Current versions of eave ribbons are made of low-cost hessian fabric infused with candidate insecticides and can be easily fitted onto multiple house types without any additional modifications. This article reviews the evidence for efficacy of the technology, and discusses its potential as affordable and versatile supplementary approach for targeted and efficient control of mosquito-borne diseases, particularly malaria. Given their simplicity and demonstrated potential in previous studies, future research should investigate ways to optimize scalability and effectiveness of the ribbons. It is also important to assess whether the ribbons may constitute a less-cumbersome, but more affordable substitute for other interventions, such as IRS, by judiciously using lower quantities of selected insecticides targeted around eave spaces to deliver equivalent or greater suppression of malaria transmission.
需要补充工具来解决杀虫剂处理过的蚊帐（ITN）和室内滞留喷洒（IRS）的局限性，这是目前非洲对抗疟疾的核心病媒控制方法。屋檐丝带技术利用主要疟疾传播媒介的自然进屋行为，通过屋檐空间释放杀蚊或驱虫活性物质，这些空间是疟蚊通常进入人类住所的通道。它们通过防止室内和周围户外环境中的叮咬，并杀死相当比例的蚊子来提供保护。目前的屋檐丝带版本由低成本的黄麻织物制成，注入了候选杀虫剂，可以轻松安装在多种房屋类型上，无需进行任何额外的修改。本文回顾了该技术的有效性证据，并讨论了其作为一种负担得起的多功能补充方法，用于针对和有效控制蚊媒疾病（特别是疟疾）的潜力。鉴于它们在先前研究中的简单性和已证明的潜力，未来的研究应该探讨如何优化丝带的可扩展性和有效性。评估丝带是否可以构成一种更简单、更负担得起的 IRS 等其他干预措施的替代品也很重要，通过在屋檐空间周围明智地使用少量选定的杀虫剂来提供等效或更大的疟疾传播抑制。
