Mosquito Nets for the Elderly?

Nine-year follow-up (ending 1999) of survival of 3738 individuals in a malaria-endemic area of Papua New Guinea found that the use of mosquito nets was associated with a large reduction in mortality in people aged > or = 40 years as well as in children aged < 5 years. There may be substantial benefits of malaria transmission reduction for older people, that have been overlooked in public health programmes and burden of disease calculations.