IMPREGNET® is a 40 gram soap bar which contains 10% of permethrin to treat a standard bednet of 12 m2 of material. IMPREGNET® can also be used to treat clothing such as military uniforms, hammocks, curtains and upholstered furniture. Nets treated with IMPREGNET® protect against mosquitoes and other biting-insects for up to six months.

Directions:
1) Dissolve the soap bar in a bucket of water.
2) Add the net and leave for approximately 15 minutes.
3) Once the soapy water has been absorbed the net can be removed for final drying. DO NOT RINSE THE NET. Only enough water (300 c.c.) should be used to wet the net. Very little, if any, of the soapy water should be left once the net is removed. Care should be taken that the soapy water is absorbed uniformly throughout the net. The net should be put to dry preferably over the sleeping area it is meant to protect so as to take advantage of the protective effect of any excess liquid. The same method can be used for other materials. Another method is to calculate 12 m2 of material, wet it and rub with the soap bar. DO NOT RINSE. No special protection is required to handle the soap bar.

Active Ingredients:
Permethrin (10%). permethrin was recommended for use on BEDNETS by the WHO Expert Committee on Vector Biology and Control (WHO, 1985).

The use of impregnated BEDNETS and curtains with permethrin has proven to be one of the most effective weapons in the prevention specially of MALARIA. Results of the first mortality study of Insecticide Treated Nets in The Gambia showed a reduction in all-cause mortality of 63% in children under 5 years of age (Alonso et al. 1991).

However, the difficulties inherent to the task of impregnation by traditional methods allow for child intoxication, mistakes when making dilutions, spillage of active component, broken glass containers, or other accidents. Also, very frequently the lack of appropriate equipment and knowledge on how to prepare the solutions compound the problem. Individual treatment also solves one major constraint that many people have which is that they don't want their nets dipped in an insecticide solution that has been dirtied by the nets of others.

In a recent field test in Africa involving 300,000 BEDNETS it was found that: "Once the amount of pure insecticide has been determined, an appropriate dipping solution has to be prepared. The preparation of the insecticide solution is the most difficult operational issue and a constant source of errors". (Net Gain Operational Aspects of a New Health Intervention for Preventing MALARIA Death. 1 996 WHO / IDRC, Geneva, Switzerland). ). Present day dipping methods preclude the implementation and sustainability of vector-borne disease prevention and control programs.

IMPREGNET® was formulated to eliminate these problems. Soap was chosen as vehicle to overcome educational barriers, as soap is known to all cultures in all environments.

This method facilitates the impregnation of nets by the community: it is a practical, effective and simple task that also eliminates the problem of insecticide quantity and its handling.

The use of IMPREGNET®, added to the topical use of our FOAM REPELLENT NOPIKEX®, significantly contributes towards the PREVENTION of, not only MALARIA, but also other vector-borne diseases.

In 1967, WHO realized that global eradication of MALARIA was impossible and focus shifted to prevention and control. BEDNETS may eventually prove to be the single most effective MALARIA intervention method. News Letter, Tropical Disease Research (TDR). June, 1 996.

SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND:

Darriet et al. (op.cit.) observed a reduction of indoor resting (by mosquitoes) in the daytime and an increase of the exit rate from 30% in the control huts to 97% in the test huts.

Rozendaal et al. (in press) observed earlier departure of A. darlingi mosquitoes during the night.

Snow et al (op.cit.) found that the proportion of A. gambiae trapped in exit-traps leaving rooms with permethrin-treated nets was significantly higher than that leaving rooms with untreated nets.

Lines et al. (1 987) observed an increase in the proportion of fed A. arabiensis entering the exit-traps from 64% in the control hut without a net to 98% in a test hut. For A. gambiae the exit proportion with a cotton net impregnated at 0.2 g/m2 were 30% and 100%, respectively. In the same experiment, the proportion for A. funestus were 44% and 97%, respectively.

Lines et al. (1 987); Magesa et al., (1 991). It was observed that in the presence of treated nets, mosquitoes showed a significant reduction in the tendency to feed on an unprotected person in the same room. Most of the mosquitoes which had entered this room left without feeding.

Source: Self-Protection and Vector Control with Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Nets (A Review of Present Status). J.A. Rozendaal - Division of Vector Biology and Control, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. 1989.

The use of pyrethroids on nets gives outstandingly effective personal protection against nuisance insects. At last, we have a method of prevention that is comparable in epidemiological effect with house spraying, yet simple and safe enough for application by nonspecialists. ITNs (Insecticide Treated Nets) may therefore permit what was previously impossible; truly effective community-based MALARIA control in Africa. The technology is so simple and the problem of MALARIA so severe that ITNs are a highly attractive public health intervention. (Lines, 1 991)

Pyrethroids are excito-repellent insecticides; their effect on insect behavior include inhibition of feeding and driving insects from their hiding places. The presence of a pyrethroid on a net greatly reduces a mosquito¹s ability to feed through the fabric or penetrate small gaps in it (Curtis et al. 1 991).

An ITN with large holes protects as well as an intact untreated bednet, reducing biting by up to 95% (Lines et al. 1 987; Lindsay, Hossein et al. 1 991; Miller et al. 1 991; Pleass et al. 1 993; Curtis et al. 1 992). Treated curtains and nets that are large in relation to the room protect against biting mainly by deterring mosquitoes from entering the room. Smaller ITNs protect mostly by killing mosquitoes that have already entered the room or by driving them outside before they feed (Lines et al. 1 987; Curtis et al. 1 992). The use of ITNs is a new technology which gives extraordinary protection against biting-insects; their efficacy for the prevention and control of MALARIA has been widely confirmed in Africa by rigorous research. [Curtis 1 992a; Choi et al. 1 995].

Source: WHO/IDRC. 1 996. Net Gain: A New Method for Preventing MALARIA Deaths. Editors: Christian Lengeler, Jaqueline Cattani, Don de Savigny.

From the above we can conclude that ITNs protect against mosquitoes and other insects; its cost/efficacy makes them the best alternative in sustainable prevention and control programs against vector-borne diseases.