{"id":168482,"date":"2020-09-14T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T11:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=168482"},"modified":"2020-09-10T05:52:04","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T04:52:04","slug":"dengue-breakthrough-after-mosquitoes-laced-with-natural-bacteria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/09\/dengue-breakthrough-after-mosquitoes-laced-with-natural-bacteria\/","title":{"rendered":"Dengue Breakthrough after Mosquitoes Laced with Natural Bacteria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Infections in Indonesian city plummet after release of mosquitoes injected with Wolbachia bacteria.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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An aedes aegypti mosquito carrier of dengue.<\/p><\/div>\n

27 Aug 2020 – <\/em>Infecting mosquitoes with a naturally occurring bacteria dramatically reduces their ability to transmit dengue, according to a breakthrough study that could pave the way to eliminating the disease.<\/p>\n

Research conducted in Indonesia<\/a>, where dengue is endemic, found that releasing mosquitoes infected with the bacteria Wolbachia into parts of Yogyakarta city reduced the number of dengue infections by 77% compared with untreated areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really hopeful this will lead to local elimination [of dengue] in Yogyakarta city, and the next stage is to scale up beyond Yogyakarta to other parts of Indonesia,\u201d said Dr Katie Anders, director of impact assessment at the World Mosquito Program, and one of the study\u2019s lead researchers.<\/p>\n

The same method is also being applied in other countries where dengue is prevalent, with the aim of eliminating the disease as a public health concern.<\/p>\n