Study Discovers Promising Novel Method to Control Dengue: NEJM
Dengue virus (DENV) is responsible for an estimated 100 million symptomatic cases of infection and 10,000 deaths annually. In 2019, the World Health Organization designated dengue as one of the top 10 global health threats. In a recent study, researchers have found that infecting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with wMel strain of Wolbachia pipientis reduces the incidence and hospitalization for dengue. The research has been published in the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL of MEDICINE on June 10, 2021.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the primary vectors of dengue. Efforts to control A. aegypti populations with the use of insecticides or environmental management methods have not been effective in controlling dengue as a public health problem in most countries. Wolbachia pipientis — a common, maternally inherited, obligate intracellular type of bacteria — infects many species of insects but does not occur naturally in A. aegypti. Stable transinfection of A. aegypti with some strains of Wolbachia confers resistance to disseminated infection by DENV and other arboviruses. Thus, the introgression of "virus-blocking" strains of Wolbachia into field populations of A. aegypti is an emerging dengue-control method.
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