Spatial Repellents for the Prevention of Malaria in Kenya

Summary

Spatial repellents are chemical-based devices that when placed in a room, make that room non-conducive for mosquitoes. These tools can be used to help in the fight against vector borne diseases such as malaria and dengue. However, their efficacy in reducing mosquito biting and therefore malaria transmission has never been evaluated in Africa. This study will evaluate the efficacy of a spatial repellent in reducing mosquito biting on human beings and measure the impact any reduced biting will have on malaria transmission. The investigators will recruit and follow-up 5,984 children between 6 months and \<10 years of age in Busia County to determine how many times they will be infected with malaria in villages where the investigators will have distributed spatial repellents and compare the rate of infection to villages where the investigators will not have distributed the repellent devices. Additionally, the investigators will measure whether the distribution of spatial repellents in one village will drive mosquitoes to their neighboring houses thereby increasing malaria transmission in those areas. The children participating in the study will be divided into 3 groups (cohorts). The first group will be followed up during the first 4 months before any intervention is distributed and the purpose here will be to determine that the villages are comparable. After this, the investigators will recruit the next group of participants and follow them up for 1 year and repeat this again for another year. During the follow-up, the children will be asked to come to the health facility where they will be tested for malaria using RDT or blood slide for microscopy. Every two weeks, a member of the study team will come to the participant's house and ask them if they had any history of fever. If the participants had fever, they will be tested for malaria. All children who turn out to be positive for malaria by RDT will be treated free of charge. At the same time, the investigators shall also perform mosquito collections to determine the impact of spatial repellents on the density of Anopheles mosquitoes.

Conditions

• Malaria

Interventions

DEVICE

Transfluthrin

Passive emanator with formulated transfluthrin

DEVICE

Placebo

Passive emanator with formulated inert ingredients

Sponsors & Collaborators

• S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• Kenya Medical Research Institute

  collaborator OTHER

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  collaborator FED

• fhiClinical

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Notre Dame

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• John P Grieco, Ph.D. · University of Notre Dame

• Eric Ochomo, Ph.D. · Kenya Medical Research Institute

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Months

Max Age

10 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-03-02

Primary Completion

2023-10-23

Completion

2023-12-09

Countries

• Kenya

Study Locations