New Nets project
The massive scale-up of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN) has led to a major reduction in malaria burden (up to 50%) in many sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. However, this progress is threatened by the wide-scale selection of insecticide-resistant malaria vectors.
The “New Nets” study is a cluster-randomised clinical trial which is currently conducting in the districts of Cove, Zagnanado and Ouinhi, located in the Zou department Benin, West Africa. The first output of this research is to evaluate the efficacy of 2 novel dual active Ingredient (AI) LLINs in a community randomized controlled trial on epidemiology outcomes. The trial will take place over 2 years in an area where malaria vectors are resistant to pyrethroid insecticide.
Three-arm superiority, a single-blinded, cluster-randomized trial with the village as the unit of randomisation. The primary outcome of the trial will be incidence of malaria cases (confirmed by rapid diagnostic test (RDT)) in children aged 6 months to 10 years followed for 24 months. Secondary outcomes are cross-sectional community prevalence of malaria infection (confirmed by RDT) in the study population at 12- and 24-months post-intervention, the prevalence of moderate and severe anaemia in children under 5 years old, entomological inoculation rates (EIR), vector density and insecticide resistance intensity.
The second output has two objectives. The first objective aim to examine whether Phase II experimental hut trial outcomes can serve as a surrogate for epidemiological and transmission outcomes of CRT. The second objective is to assess the LLIN durability in phase III WHOPES/PQ study.
