Background
Bed nets treated with pyrethroid insecticides are an effective way to reduce malaria transmission and have been deployed across Africa. However, mosquitoes that spread malaria are now developing resistance to this type of insecticide. One way to overcome this resistance is to add another chemical - piperonyl butoxide (PBO) - to the net. PBO is not an insecticide, but it blocks the substance (an enzyme) inside the mosquito that stops pyrethroids from working.
What is the aim of this review?
The aim of this Cochrane Review was to find out if pyrethroid-PBO nets provide additional protection against malaria when compared to standard pyrethroid-only nets.
Key messages
Pyrethroid-PBO nets were more effective than standard pyrethroid-only nets in killing mosquitoes and preventing blood feeding in areas where mosquito populations are very resistant to pyrethroid insecticides (high-certainty evidence). Pyrethroid-PBO nets reduced the number of malaria infections in areas of high pyrethroid resistance (moderate-certainty evidence), although further studies are needed to measure clinical outcomes for the full lifetime of the net.
What was studied in the review?
We included 16 trials conducted between 2010 and 2020 that compared standard pyrethroid nets to pyrethroid-PBO nets. These consisted of 10 experimental hut trials that measured the impact of pyrethroid-PBO nets on a wild population of mosquitoes, four village trials, and two cRCTs. The two cRCTs measured the impact of pyrethroid-PBO nets on malaria infection in humans; all other studies recorded their impact on mosquito populations. We analysed hut and village studies to determine whether pyrethroid-PBO nets were better for killing mosquitoes and preventing them from blood feeding. For both cRCT trials, we examined whether pyrethroid-PBO nets reduced the number of malaria infections. As the benefit of adding PBO to nets is likely to depend on the level of pyrethroid resistance in the mosquito population, we performed separate analyses for studies conducted in areas of high, medium, and low levels of pyrethroid resistance.
What are the main results of the review?
When mosquitoes show high levels of resistance to pyrethroids, pyrethroid-PBO nets perform better than standard pyrethroid-only nets for killing mosquitoes and preventing them from blood feeding. As expected, this effect is not seen in areas where mosquitoes show low or no resistance to pyrethroid-only insecticides. Two trials looked at the impact of using pyrethroid-PBO nets on the number of people infected with the malaria parasite. These trials, involving 10,603 participants in total and conducted in an area where mosquitoes are very resistant to pyrethroids, found that fewer people were infected with malaria when the population used pyrethroid-PBO nets than when standard pyrethroid-only nets were used.
How up-to-date is this review?
We searched for all studies and trials that had been published up to 25 September 2020.
In areas of high insecticide resistance, pyrethroid-PBO nets have greater entomological and epidemiological efficacy compared to standard LLINs, with sustained reduction in parasite prevalence, higher mosquito mortality and reduction in mosquito blood feeding rates 21 to 25 months post intervention. Questions remain about the durability of PBO on nets, as the impact of pyrethroid-PBO nets on mosquito mortality was not sustained over 20 washes in experimental hut trials, and epidemiological data on pyrethroid-PBO nets for the full intended three-year life span of the nets is not available. Little evidence is available to support greater entomological efficacy of pyrethroid-PBO nets in areas where mosquitoes show lower levels of resistance to pyrethroids.
Pyrethroid long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) have been important in the large reductions in malaria cases in Africa, but insecticide resistance in Anopheles mosquitoes threatens their impact. Insecticide synergists may help control insecticide-resistant populations. Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) is such a synergist; it has been incorporated into pyrethroid-LLINs to form pyrethroid-PBO nets, which are currently produced by five LLIN manufacturers and, following a recommendation from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017, are being included in distribution campaigns. This review examines epidemiological and entomological evidence on the addition of PBO to pyrethroid nets on their efficacy.
To compare effects of pyrethroid-PBO nets currently in commercial development or on the market with effects of their non-PBO equivalent in relation to:
1. malaria parasite infection (prevalence or incidence); and
2. entomological outcomes.
We searched the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group (CIDG) Specialized Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, CAB Abstracts, and two clinical trial registers (ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform) up to 25 September 2020. We contacted organizations for unpublished data. We checked the reference lists of trials identified by these methods.
We included experimental hut trials, village trials, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with mosquitoes from the Anopheles gambiae complex or the Anopheles funestus group.
Two review authors assessed each trial for eligibility, extracted data, and determined the risk of bias for included trials. We resolved disagreements through discussion with a third review author. We analysed data using Review Manager 5 and assessed the certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach.
Sixteen trials met the inclusion criteria: 10 experimental hut trials, four village trials, and two cluster-RCTs (cRCTs). Three trials are awaiting classification, and four trials are ongoing.
Two cRCTs examined the effects of pyrethroid-PBO nets on parasite prevalence in people living in areas with highly pyrethroid-resistant mosquitoes (< 30% mosquito mortality in discriminating dose assays). At 21 to 25 months post intervention, parasite prevalence was lower in the intervention arm (odds ratio (OR) 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.67 to 0.95; 2 trials, 2 comparisons; moderate-certainty evidence).
In highly pyrethroid-resistant areas, unwashed pyrethroid-PBO nets led to higher mosquito mortality compared to unwashed standard-LLINs (risk ratio (RR) 1.84, 95% CI 1.60 to 2.11; 14,620 mosquitoes, 5 trials, 9 comparisons; high-certainty evidence) and lower blood feeding success (RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.71; 14,000 mosquitoes, 4 trials, 8 comparisons; high-certainty evidence). However, in comparisons of washed pyrethroid-PBO nets to washed LLINs, we do not know if PBO nets had a greater effect on mosquito mortality (RR 1.20, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.63; 10,268 mosquitoes, 4 trials, 5 comparisons; very low-certainty evidence), although the washed pyrethroid-PBO nets did decrease blood-feeding success compared to standard-LLINs (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.72 to 0.92; 9674 mosquitoes, 3 trials, 4 comparisons; high-certainty evidence).
In areas where pyrethroid resistance is moderate (31% to 60% mosquito mortality), mosquito mortality was higher with unwashed pyrethroid-PBO nets compared to unwashed standard-LLINs (RR 1.68, 95% CI 1.33 to 2.11; 1007 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 3 comparisons; moderate-certainty evidence), but there was little to no difference in effects on blood-feeding success (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.11; 1006 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 3 comparisons; moderate-certainty evidence). For washed pyrethroid-PBO nets compared to washed standard-LLINs, we found little to no evidence for higher mosquito mortality or reduced blood feeding (mortality: RR 1.07, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.54; 329 mosquitoes, 1 trial, 1 comparison, low-certainty evidence; blood feeding success: RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.13; 329 mosquitoes, 1 trial, 1 comparison; low-certainty evidence).
In areas where pyrethroid resistance is low (61% to 90% mosquito mortality), studies reported little to no difference in the effects of unwashed pyrethroid-PBO nets compared to unwashed standard-LLINs on mosquito mortality (RR 1.25, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.57; 1580 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 3 comparisons; moderate-certainty evidence), and we do not know if there was any effect on blood-feeding success (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.27 to 2.11; 1580 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 3 comparisons; very low-certainty evidence). For washed pyrethroid-PBO nets compared to washed standard-LLINs, we do not know if there was any difference in mosquito mortality (RR 1.39, 95% CI 0.95 to 2.04; 1774 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 3 comparisons; very low-certainty evidence) or on blood feeding (RR 1.07, 95% CI 0.49 to 2.33; 1774 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 3 comparisons; low-certainty evidence).
In areas where mosquito populations are susceptible to insecticides (> 90% mosquito mortality), there may be little to no difference in the effects of unwashed pyrethroid-PBO nets compared to unwashed standard-LLINs on mosquito mortality (RR 1.20, 95% CI 0.64 to 2.26; 2791 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 2 comparisons; low-certainty evidence). This is similar for washed nets (RR 1.07, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.25; 2644 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 2 comparisons; low-certainty evidence). We do not know if unwashed pyrethroid-PBO nets had any effect on the blood-feeding success of susceptible mosquitoes (RR 0.52, 95% CI 0.12 to 2.22; 2791 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 2 comparisons; very low-certainty evidence). The same applies to washed nets (RR 1.25, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.91; 2644 mosquitoes, 2 trials, 2 comparisons; low-certainty evidence).
In village trials comparing pyrethroid-PBO nets to LLINs, there was no difference in sporozoite rate (4 trials, 5 comparisons) nor in mosquito parity (3 trials, 4 comparisons).