Personal protection against mosquitoes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by using a kerosene oil lamp to vaporize transfluthrin.
The effectiveness of a cheap and easy method of household protection against Culex quinquefasciatus Say and other mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) was investigated in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Kerosene-burning lamps (korobois) were modified to heat and vaporize transfluthrin, a volatile pyrethroid insecticide. When transfluthrin was added to fuel of the lamp, protection against biting was poor unless a very high concentration of insecticide was used. A modified lamp (= vaporizing koroboi) was designed to overcome this problem by mixing the insecticide with vegetable oil and heating it to 120 degrees C in a tin held just above the flame. The concentration of 0.1% transfluthrin in vegetable oil gave 50-75% reduction in biting, a similar degree of protection to that obtained from burning a mosquito coil containing a synthetic pyrethroid (0.25% d-allethrin) and significantly better protection than a locally bought coil (brand 'White Crane', probably containing DDT). Greater protection (consistently > 90%) was achieved with a higher concentration of transfluthrin (0.5%) in the vegetable oil. This modified lamp is simple, cheap and employs locally available technology. With further development, and due regard to inhalation toxicity of the vaporized materials, it may offer a more cost-effective alternative to a mosquito coil as a means of personal protection, and a useful complement to a net for the early part of the evening before bedtime.[1]References
- Personal protection against mosquitoes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by using a kerosene oil lamp to vaporize transfluthrin. Pates, H.V., Line, J.D., Keto, A.J., Miller, J.E. Med. Vet. Entomol. (2002) [Pubmed]
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