Thu, 10 Feb 2005
CBC News
LONDON - A low-tech strategy helps control mosquitoes that spread dengue fever, a severe, flu-like infection in the tropics, researchers say.
Dengue fever is the most common insect-borne viral infection. The most severe form, dengue hemorragic fever, causes at least 12,000 deaths per year.
An engorged Aedes aegypti mosquito feeding on a human host. (Courtesy: CDC)
The mosquito Aedes aegypti transmits the infection to humans.
Since 1970, the number of countries with dengue hemorragic fever has jumped from nine to 60, as more people travelled by air and migrated away from rural areas.
People living in poor tropical countries without a piped water supply are at greatest risk, since the mosquito breeds in stagnant water in barrels or other containers.
In Saturday's issue of The Lancet, Australian and Vietnamese researchers report on a relatively cheap way to control the mosquitoes without resorting to insecticides.
The researchers took advantage of a microscopic water predator called Mesocyclops, a crustacean that feeds on mosquito larvae.
When water tanks were inoculated with the Mesocyclops, the crustaceans ate the larvae before they hatched.
Community education was also an important part of the strategy. Local communities distributed the crustaceans, school children helped seniors and songs were used to get the word out.
A pilot project in 1998 to 2003 eradicated the mosquito in most villages in Vietnam, helping to protect more than 380,000 people, the team said.
"Whereas the hierarchical structure of society in Vietnam undoubtedly affected successful adoption of our model, we judge the key factor in motivating communities to be perception of the seriousness of the dengue problem," said study author Prof. Brian Kay of Royal Brisbane Hospital in Queensland, Australia.
It isn't clear how successful the low-tech approach might be elsewhere, although it has the potential to help rural communities, according to a commentary accompanying the study.
CBC News
LONDON - A low-tech strategy helps control mosquitoes that spread dengue fever, a severe, flu-like infection in the tropics, researchers say.
Dengue fever is the most common insect-borne viral infection. The most severe form, dengue hemorragic fever, causes at least 12,000 deaths per year.
An engorged Aedes aegypti mosquito feeding on a human host. (Courtesy: CDC)
The mosquito Aedes aegypti transmits the infection to humans.
Since 1970, the number of countries with dengue hemorragic fever has jumped from nine to 60, as more people travelled by air and migrated away from rural areas.
People living in poor tropical countries without a piped water supply are at greatest risk, since the mosquito breeds in stagnant water in barrels or other containers.
In Saturday's issue of The Lancet, Australian and Vietnamese researchers report on a relatively cheap way to control the mosquitoes without resorting to insecticides.
The researchers took advantage of a microscopic water predator called Mesocyclops, a crustacean that feeds on mosquito larvae.
When water tanks were inoculated with the Mesocyclops, the crustaceans ate the larvae before they hatched.
Community education was also an important part of the strategy. Local communities distributed the crustaceans, school children helped seniors and songs were used to get the word out.
A pilot project in 1998 to 2003 eradicated the mosquito in most villages in Vietnam, helping to protect more than 380,000 people, the team said.
"Whereas the hierarchical structure of society in Vietnam undoubtedly affected successful adoption of our model, we judge the key factor in motivating communities to be perception of the seriousness of the dengue problem," said study author Prof. Brian Kay of Royal Brisbane Hospital in Queensland, Australia.
It isn't clear how successful the low-tech approach might be elsewhere, although it has the potential to help rural communities, according to a commentary accompanying the study.
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