In the March 2017 Journal of the American Medical Association, an article examined how integrated pest management (IPM) interventions affected “asthma morbidity among mouse-sensitized and exposed children and adolescents with asthma.” Researchers conducted a randomized, clinical trial in Baltimore, Maryland, and Boston, Massachusetts, with 361 children and adolescents between age five and seventeen. All participants in the study received “pest management education, which consisted of written material and demonstration of the materials,” while one group received professionally delivered IPM consisting of “application of rodenticide, sealing of holes that could serve as entry points for mice, trap placement, targeted cleaning, allergen-proof mattress and pillow encasements, and portable air purifiers.” Follow up occurred every 3 months for a year.
Both groups were measured for “maximal symptom days defined as the highest number of days of symptoms in the previous 2 weeks among 3 types of symptoms (days of slowed activity due to asthma; number of nights of waking with asthma symptoms; and days of coughing, wheezing, or chest tightness).” In examining the results, “there was no statistically significant between-group difference for maximal symptom days across 6, 9, and 12 months.” Researchers concluded “an intensive year-long integrated pest management intervention plus pest management education vs pest management education alone resulted in no significant difference in maximal symptom days.”

To view the article’s abstract, click here.