Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes: The answer to the dengue endemic in Pakistan?

• 作者: Qazi Syed Muhammad Ali Mustafa Ashiq Husain
• 来源期刊: 亚太热带医药杂志（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2021,（9）
• 所属期刊栏目: Perspective
• 页码范围: 383-384
• 页数: 2页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.4103/1995-7645.326259

摘要

Dengue is an infectious disease of viral etiology characterized by acute flu-like symptoms with potentially lethal complications. The virus is transmitted by the mosquitoes of the Aedes genus[1]. These mosquitoes dwell around small bodies of stagnant water, road puddles and open sewers. Pakistan has been dengue endemic for the last 30 years with 28 571 cases reported between 2019-2020 (Figure 1). Similarly, in 2021, 1 449 confirmed dengue cases[2] have already appeared, much more than expected ahead of the upcoming peak season, set to occur during the post-monsoon months. This shows us that eradication of dengue from the region is extremely important. Methods currently employed to control dengue outbreaks in Pakistan are usually limited to those at a community level and include improving sanitation, spraying insecticides, using mosquito nets and repellants[3]. Vaccines against dengue virus have been developed in some parts of the world, but are not yet available for people living in Pakistan and therefore, new and innovative control strategies to overcome this disease and its spread are direly needed. Deployment of virus-blocking Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes is a promising dengue control strategy. The applying Wolbachia to Eliminate Dengue (AWED) trial conducted in Yogyakarta, Indonesia[4] is a recent study done to measure the efficacy of this method. This cluster randomized clinical trial involved the division of the study area into 24 clusters. Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were deployed in 12 randomly selected intervention clusters alongside regular routine dengue control measures, while the remaining 12 control clusters only received routine dengue control measures. The results of this trial showed a 77% decrease in the incidence of symptomatic virologically confirmed dengue (VCD) in the treated areas of the city while the protective efficacy in preventing hospitalization with VCD, an indicator of clinical severity, was 86%.