Cases of Dengue fever fell by 77% in a “revolutionary” study in which mosquitoes that transmit it are “manipulated”, according to scientists.
During the research, mosquitoes were infected with a “miraculous” bacterium that reduces the ability of insects to to transmit Dengue fever. The study took place in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, and is being extended in hopes that the virus will be eradicated.
The World Mosquito Program team claims that the method could be a solution against the virus that has spread around the world.
Fifty years ago, few people had heard of Dengue fever, but over time it turned into a pandemic and the number of cases increased dramatically. In 1970, only nine countries had faced severe outbreaks of Dengue fever, but currently the number of infections worldwide reaches 400 million.
Dengue fever causes muscle and bone pain and severe outbreaks can lead to overcrowding in hospitals.
How mosquitoes were handled
In the mentioned study, the bacterium Wolbachia was used to infect mosquitoes. One of the study’s authors, Dr. Katie Anders, describes it as “a natural miracle.”
The bacterium does not hurt mosquitoes, but it “stores” in the areas of the mosquito’s body where the virus that triggers Dengue fever “enters”. In fact, the bacterium consumes the resources in those areas and the virus multiplies much harder, so the chances of the mosquito infecting a person it stings decrease.
The researchers used 5 million mosquito eggs that they infected with Wolbachia. Subsequently, they were placed in buckets of water placed in the city every two weeks. The process of creating a population of mosquitoes infected with the bacterium took nine months. The city of Yogyakarta was divided into 24 areas, and mosquitoes were spread over 12.
The results of the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, show that the number of cases of Dengue fever infection fell by 77% and cases of specialization fell by 88%.
The results of the study, “revolutionary”
“We are excited. The results are better than we expected“Dr. Anders told the BBC.
Due to the fact that the study was a success, mosquitoes were released throughout the city and the project will be implemented in the surrounding areas, with the aim of eradicating Dengue fever in that area.
“It simply came to our notice then. We think that it could have an even greater impact if the project is implemented in big cities around the world, there a Dengue fever is a public health problem “, Dr. Anders also said.
The Wolbachia bacterium is very “manipulative” because it attacks the host’s reproductive system so that the next generation will carry the bacterium.
Disease modeling studies have predicted that Wolbachia may be enough to completely suppress Dengue fever.
David Hamer, a professor of global health and medicine at Boston University, said the method has “interesting potential” for other diseases such as Zika, yellow fever and chikungunya, which are also spread by mosquito bites.
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