Saturday, June 10, 2023

Could infecting mosquitoes decrease dengue infections?

a bacteria that infects insects could make mosquitos sterile. 

LINKWolbachia pipientis makes mosquitoes all female by interfering with the eggs

LINK


Wolbachia, a naturally occurring endosymbiont of many mosquito species that can potentially limit virus transmission through several host genetic alterations, would be a potential alternative for dengue prevention. We also critically discussed the challenges and prospects of Wolbachia-based dengue control in developing countries. The evidence supporting the efficacy and safety of this intervention and its mechanism have also been elucidated. Empirical evidence suggests that this introgression method could be an eco-friendly and long-lasting dengue control method. This review would help the policymakers and health experts devise a scheme of Wolbachia-based dengue control that can control mosquito-borne diseases, particularly dengue in Bangladesh and other developing countries.

Wolbachia, a naturally occurring endosymbiont of many mosquito species that can potentially limit virus transmission through several host genetic alterations, would be a potential alternative for dengue prevention. We also critically discussed the challenges and prospects of Wolbachia-based dengue control in developing countries. The evidence supporting the efficacy and safety of this intervention and its mechanism have also been elucidated. Empirical evidence suggests that this introgression method could be an eco-friendly and long-lasting dengue control method. This review would help the policymakers and health experts devise a scheme of Wolbachia-based dengue control that can control mosquito-borne diseases, particularly dengue in Bangladesh and other developing countries.

Physorg article:

NEJM article from 2021 summarizes a field study

After successful introgression of wMel into the intervention clusters, 8144 participants were enrolled; 3721 lived in intervention clusters, and 4423 lived in control clusters. In the intention-to-treat analysis, VCD occurred in 67 of 2905 participants (2.3%) in the intervention clusters and in 318 of 3401 (9.4%) in the control clusters (aggregate odds ratio for VCD, 0.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15 to 0.35; P=0.004).

so numbers infected fell from 10 to 2 percent. not perfect but better than nothing.

headsup from Physorg article:

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