Introduction / DDT molecule / Malaria / World War II
Environmental Problems / Insect Resistance / Begin Using Again? / Resources
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In recent years (since 2001) DDT has started to make a comeback and the enivronmental issues (as discussed in the environmental section) and resistance has been re-investigated.
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Donald Roberts, entomologist at te Uniformed Services of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, conducted experiments in the Amazon basin to investigate resistance
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he chose two huts side-by-side and sprayed one of them and not the other
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he discovered that even if the mosquitoes were resistant to the DDT it was effective in repelling the mosquitoes
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So it still could protect humans even if the DDT was not actually killing the mosquito
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Based off the statistics that show that it was the agricultural use of DDT that had an effect on the environment and not the small amount that was used for protection against malaria, DDT has begun to be used again for malaria control.
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South Africa began using it again and the malaria cases have fallen 65 percent from 2005 to 2007 and the deaths from malaria have dropped 73 percent
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Hopefully with this new positive outlook on DDT it will be available to help future generations fight the spread of malaria.