Discussion
malaria, infection, malaria infection
MALARIA, INFECTION
The results show an overall increase in malaria prevalence in the study area over the years. Prevalence was higher amongst children living in areas with standard LLINs as opposed to those living in villages with PBO LLINs. Other factors associated with malaria infection were being a male and greater than 5 years old. Children living in households of lower socio-economic status, those with open eaves, house without IRS and whose head of household had no formal education had increased risk of malaria infection.The observed increase in malaria prevalence over the years could be explained by a decrease in mosquito net usage and in PBO concentration in the PBO LLIN. LLINs usage dropped from 80% to 50%. Findings from the same randomized control trial by Protopopoff et al. [Throughout the study period, children living in the area with standard LLINs as opposed to those living in villages with PBO LLINs were more likely to have malaria infection regardless of LLIN usage. Data from the same trial demonstrated that after 20 months of use, there were less mosquitoes blood fed inside PBO nets compared to the standard LLINs. Suggesting that despite development of holes PBO LLINs provided better personal protection than standard LLINs arm [Inconsistent with other reports [Similar to other studies [In line with other studies, this study also found that lower household SES [Other studies have reported important environmental factors which contribute to malaria infection such as land cover, land surface temperature and precipitation [