Common malaria drugs make mosquitoes more susceptible to some insecticides and more resistant to others, researchers told a meeting of the UK Royal Entomological Society last week. Understanding the relationship could improve disease management.

"By coordinating drugs and pesticides you could control insects better and release less insecticide into the environment," says Amanda Callaghan of the University of Reading, United Kingdom, who led the research.

The researchers found that mosquitoes fed with blood laced with quinine — the 'original' anti-malarial drug — had variable resistance to three common pesticides. They suggest that other drugs may have similar interactions with other biting insects and insecticides.

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