[Impact of utilization of permethrin impregnated curtains on malaria in a rural zone of high transmission in Burkina Faso].

The efficacy of permethrin impregnated curtains as a malaria control measure was evaluated in a rice field area nearby Ouagadougou (BF). Two groups of children aged 1-5 years matched for age, sex and malaria exposure, were followed through the rainy season of 1987 for illness and febrile episodes. One group of 118 children lived in houses protected with impregnated curtains, the other in houses without curtains. All children were examined for parasitaemia spleen index packed cell volume (PCV) and antisporozoites antibodies at the beginning and the end of the rainy season. During rainy season no difference could be found in the number of clinical episode between the two groups. A reduction in the prevalence of splenomegaly and parasitaemia and an increase in the PCV was observed during the dry season.