Body in Motion

It’s more than vaguely reminiscent of the 1984 classic Ghostbusters. The protective gear, the spray cans, the coveralls. Bill Murray wasn’t around to see it but this week, Malawi set off to rid herself of some demons: the female anopheles mosquito, carrier of malaria.

In Nkhotakota, one of Malawi’s lakeshore districts, 26,000 households will be sprayed with a biodegradable insecticide that should keep mosquitoes out of people’s homes through the wet season due to start any day now. Furniture and personal belongings are cleared out so the indoor walls of the house can be sprayed with a time-release chemical based on pyrethrin (think citronella). Because the Anopheles mosquito bites predominantly at night and rests on walls after biting (we all need a little digestion time), spraying is a good way to keep mosquitoes at bay.

Malaria is still one of the biggest killers of children in the world – along with diarrhea and pneumonia, poor nutrition confounding it all – and Malawi is certainly no exception. With about 6 million cases annually, the disease detracts from work productivity and school attendance, not to mention the cost to families.

Stay tuned to find out how much spraying really does cut the transmission of malaria around here. It’s the kind of thing that might just change someone’s life.