Modern Health Observation

Michigan scientists have discovered a bacteria capable of preventing the virus that causes dengue multiplies in the mosquito that spreads the disease. The organism, called Wolbachia, causes an abnormality that causes the death of the embryos of the mosquito Aedes aegypti.

The finding could be used to prevent the spread of dengue, a disease that causes about 100 million infections worldwide, says the study published in PLoS Pathogens.

Dengue is a disease that affects about one third of the world’s population-some 2,500 million people, mainly in developing countries. Although most infected people recover within two weeks, the infection can lead to complications and become a hemorrhagic fever that can be lethal.

At the moment there is no vaccine or effective treatment for the condition. Therefore, several research groups are focusing their studies in the search for new methods of vector control. One method is called “population replacement” in which natural populations of mosquitoes are replaced by modified people, incapable of transmitting the virus that causes the disease.

Michigan scientists found that Wolbachia bacteria could be a valuable tool to reduce the transmission capacity of mosquitoes.

To confirm the results, another group of researchers in Australia used a different strain of the bacterium Wolbachia.

Scientists do not yet know how the bacteria can prevent the virus multiplies in the mosquito, but they are now carrying out more studies to understand this strategy.