A team of scientists in Guangzhou, southern China have come up with a new remedy to fight against Dengue.
The team is releasing more than half a million mosquitoes into the small island from plastic pots. And the families on the island are welcoming the new set of mosquitoes. Why? Because they are sterilised.
The new set of mosquitoes released at one place might not be a good sight to see, but this could prove to be an effective method to tackle dengue fever by diluting the mosquito population with insects that don’t carry the disease.
Last year, China saw its worst outbreak in two decades, with more than 47,000 cases, almost all in Guangdong province.
After catching one strain, one becomes immune to the virus in future — but if bitten by a mosquito carrying another strain, it is likely that one may develop severe dengue, also known as dengue haemorrhagic fever. No vaccine or treatment is available for it, and recently, the disease has caused about 22,000 deaths worldwide in a year, mostly among children.
“Authorities had hired anti-mosquito squads and quarantined dengue patients. Mr. Xi and his colleagues have released mosquitoes infected with wolbachia bacteria, which make the males sterile and limit the insects ability to carry dengue,” Yang Zhicong, deputy director of Guangzhou’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention told The Hindu .
Today, more than 100 countries are affected with severe Dengue epidemics which is way more than what it used to be before the year 1970.
India too has faced problems in the recent past because of the deadly disease which has cost lives across the country. This operation in China should be an inspiration for the Indian scientists and doctors to fight against Dengue.