Bacterial-infected mosquitoes make a breakthrough in the fight against dengue virus

In fact, the number of cases requiring hospitalization fell by 86 percent and this technique was found to be equally effective against the four different types of dengue virus.

More than three years later, the bacteria is still widespread among local mosquitoes.

The local employees who took part in the study were so excited about the results that they applied the Wolbachia method across the city since the end of the study and in the meantime also began spreading infected mosquitoes to nearby areas, so that in time the population would be 2.5 million people.

“This is a great success for the people of Yogyakarta,” said Professor Ada Otarini of Indonesia’s Gadja Mada University, who was the principal investigator on the project. “The success of the study allows us to expand our work across the entire city of Yogyakarta and into neighboring urban areas. We believe there may be a future where Indonesian city dwellers can live dengue-free lives.”

“This experiment shows the exciting breakthrough that wolbachia can be: a new safe, sustainable and effective approach to dengue control – just what the international community needs,” said Professor Cameron Simmons of the World Mosquito Program at the World Mosquito Program. Monash University, the other principal investigator.

السحر’s magic trick Wolbachia is that it continues to population of mosquitoes, and is transmitted to each new generation of mosquitoes. Thus, what really sets this intervention apart is that it has been done once and it has been done. Once you get a file Wolbachia “It gets into the mosquito population, and it lives in this group for many years, maybe decades,” Simmons told the BBC.

There is a good chance that this approach will also help fight other viral diseases. Previous studies have shown that the Wolbachia method is effective in preventing transmission of Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever, among others.

from The results of the study were published in New England Journal of Medicine. This article is based on a telex from IPS, a press release from Monash University and an interview with BBC News.

Watch an interview with Professor Simmons about the research and findings here.