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The Aedes aegypti mosquito is becoming more resistant and stronger to insecticides. Photo/IST
The research was conducted by taking samples of mosquitoes Temples of the Egyptians in several countries, namely Vietnam, Indonesia, Ghana, Taiwan and Cambodia. From this study it was argued that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Vietnam and Cambodia have extraordinary immunity to insecticides.
So it is difficult to rely on the management of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes using mosquito repellents and the like. This happened because Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Vietnam and Cambodia had undergone a Voltage Gated Sodium Channel (VGSC) mutation.
“In Cambodia, there were two major endemic dengue fevers in 2007 and 2012 with 39,618 and 42,362 cases reported respectively. Nearly 600 deaths were also recorded during those years,” the report said.
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The report stated that the treatment of dengue mosquitoes from 1981 to 1987 in Cambodia was by permethrin and deltamethrin treatments with thermal fumigation and very low volume spraying. Unfortunately the extensive use of the method has caused the mosquitoes to adapt.
Mosquito samples collected in and around the city of Phnom Penh have shown very high levels of resistance to several pyrethroids. The mortality rates of the Aedes aegypti population for permethrin and deltamethrin in Phnom Penh were 0% and less than 10%, respectively.
National Institute of Infectious Disease lead researcher Shinji Kasai said the pyrethroid molecule binds to voltage-gated sodium channels. The spraying of pyrethroids causes an “unstoppable” influx of sodium ions into insect cells and creates “abnormal” cell activation.
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There are at least about 2,000 amino acids, the molecules that make up proteins, in sodium channels. In insecticide-resistant mosquitoes, these molecules can be converted into other types of amino acids or in a process known as amino acid replacement.
“Substitution of the amino acid sometimes prevents the pyrethroid molecule from approaching the VGSC, resulting in resistance,” said Shinji Kasai.
He said this discovery would be very dangerous in the future. This is because the mosquitoes will later mate and produce new genes that are very strong and immune to current methods of fighting dengue fever.
(wsb)
