Optimizing Mosquito Screening Systems for Malaria Control in Tropical Environments
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Keywords:
Malaria Control, Mosquito Screening System, Mosquito Control, Window DesignAbstract
The culture of housing in tropical African regions requires that windows are created and
operated for natural ventilation and aeration of internal room spaces. However, the threats posed by
malaria carrying vectors makes natural ventilation more risky that comforting. As a result of this,
windows are designed to integrate both the functions of passive (natural) ventilation and mosquito
repelling, through the adoption of mosquito screening systems (referred to as MSS for the purpose of this
study). A review of conventional mosquito screening systems (MSS) was conducted within Nigerian
cities, and this enabled the identification of the most commonly adopted designs. The operational mode of
the identified systems indicated the existence of a break referred to as interludes, between the opening of
netted screens and operation of the window panes. This minute interlude periods (when the window
opening is totally exposed to the open environment) is responsible for the admission of malaria carrying
mosquitos into the indoor living spaces. This study presents an optimized mosquito screening system
which provides homes with constant aeration periods and zero contact with malaria vectors. A
comparative review of the screening systems indicated a total mosquito blockage by the optimized MSS
compared to the conventional MSS.
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