BACKGROUND In November 2010, Sierra Leone distributed over three million long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) with the objective of providing protection from malaria to individuals in all households in the country. METHODS We conducted a nationally representative survey six months after the mass distribution campaign to evaluate its impact on household insecticide-treated net (ITN) o...

Background: This study aims to describe the community perceptions regarding an insecticide-treated bed net (ITN) programme in Burkina Faso, where communities were randomised to either ITN social marketing combined with free ITN distribution through antenatal care services (intervention A) or ITN social marketing only (intervention B). Methods: For this descriptive qualitative study data were co...

BACKGROUND Control measures which reduce individual exposure to malaria are expected to reduce disease, but also to eventually reduce immunity. Reassuringly, long term data following community wide ITN distribution show sustained benefits at a population level. However, the more common practice in Sub-Saharan Africa is to target ITN distribution on young children. There are few data on the long...

INTRODUCTION Malaria still constitutes a serious public health problem in Nigeria despite control efforts. The use of Insecticide Treated Net (ITN) has been proven to be an effective preventive modality in the control of malaria but its utilisation has been shown to be low. This study assessed the ownership and utilisation of ITN in Igbo-Ora, a rural community in Ibarapa Central Local Governmen...

BACKGROUND In 2005, the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia launched a major effort to distribute over 20 million long-lasting insecticidal nets, provide universal access to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs), and train 30,000 village-based health extension workers. METHODS AND FINDINGS A cross-sectional, nationally representative Malaria Indicator Survey was conducted during the malaria...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the number of thyroid nodule workups that could be eliminated and the number of malignant tumors that would be missed if the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound (SRU) recommendations and the three-tiered system were applied to incidental thyroid nodules (ITN) detected at imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS This retrospective study included ITN...

This paper begins to explore the determinants of the topological properties of the international-trade network (ITN). We fit bilateral-trade flows using a standard gravity equation to build a " residual " ITN where trade-link weights are depurated from geographical distance, size, border effects, trade agreements, and so on. We then compare the topological properties of the original and residua...

Insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) are an essential tool of the Roll Back Malaria strategy. An increasing number of African countries have embarked on mass distribution campaigns of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) with the ultimate goal of universal coverage. Such a national campaign with the goal of one ITN for every two people has been conducted in Burkina Faso in 2010. Ou...

Roll Back Malaria recently recommended a policy of universal coverage with insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) so that all age groups can benefit from protection against malaria. Countries adopting the 'universal access' policy include Zambia. Policy implementation in many settings involves mass distribution of free ITNs to achieve a measure of universal coverage. This study examines ITN deployment...