Manipulated Mosquitoes Cut Dengue by 77%
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T. Hayes,
Healthcare Packaging,
2021.
Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease, wasn’t that common 50 years ago. In fact, only nine countries had severe outbreaks. But since then, it’s been on a steady incline to the point that there are now 400 million infections a year that contribute to 22,000 deaths. Thankfully, we have the World Mosquito Programme, a group that’s fighting the tropical mosquito disease head-on with genetically modified mosquitoes. The insects are infected with Wolbachia, a bacteria that inhibits viruses’ ability to live inside the insects, and also controls reproduction so that offspring are also infected with the bacteria. The result is a new population of insects that can’t transmit viruses like dengue, yellow fever and Zika. The study in Indonesia included 8,000 people, and concluded with protective efficacy of 77.1%. More related to this: Efficacy of Wolbachia-Infected Mosquito Deployments for the Control of Dengue Wolbachia as a possible means of driving genes into populations Wolbachia and cytoplasmic incompatibility in mosquitoes The mosquito strategy that could eliminate dengue Bacteria-Laced Mosquitoes Limit Spread of Dengue
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