| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is an urgent need to protect children against dengue since this age group is particularly sensitive to the disease. Since dengue vectors are active mainly during the day, a potential target for control should be schools where children spend a considerable amount of their day. School uniforms are the cultural norm in most developing countries, worn throughout the day. We hypothesise that insecticide-treated school uniforms will reduce the incidence of dengue infection in school-aged children. Our objective is to determine the impact of impregnated school uniforms on dengue incidence.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A randomised controlled trial will be conducted in eastern Thailand in a group of schools with approximately 2,000 students aged 7–18 years. Pre-fabricated school uniforms will be commercially treated to ensure consistent, high-quality insecticide impregnation with permethrin. A double-blind, randomised, crossover trial at the school level will cover two dengue transmission seasons.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Practical issues and plans concerning intervention implementation, evaluation, analysing and interpreting the data, and possible policy implications arising from the trial are discussed.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>clinicaltrial.gov. Registration number: NCT01563640</p>
|
|---|
