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Published online 1 January 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.1341

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Bacteria could help control dengue fever

Shortening mosquitoes' lifespans by infecting them with bacteria might limit the spread of disease.

Asher Mullard

Controlling the spread of mosquitoes using bacteria that halve the insects' lifespan could virtually eliminate the transmission of dengue fever, which kills around 12,500 people a year.

Traditional methods for controlling the spread of mosquito-borne disease, such as using bed nets and draining wetlands, are ineffective for the Aedes aegytpi mosquitoes that spread dengue fever virus because they bite during the day and thrive in urban areas.

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  • SON 2 NOTICIAS FANTASTICAS, EN ESPECIAL LA QUE MODIFICAN LA BACTERIA DE LA MOZCA DE LA FRUTA, PUES SU REPRODUCCION ES MUY SENSILLA DESPUES DE TENER LAS CEPAS MADURAS Y APLICARLAS EN LAS AREAS URBANAS Y SELVATICAS SERIA RELATIVAMENTE SENSILLO. AHORA SERIA CONVENIENTE DESARROLLAR UN CONTROL BIOLOGICO SEMEJANTE PARA EL ANOFELES, MOZQUITO DE LA MALARIA QUE CAUSA AUN MAYOR NUMERO DE MUERTES AL AÑO

    • 02 Jan, 2009
    • Posted by: ROBERTO RAMIREZ

  • I think that it´s a two edge sword. If somehow the dengue fever virus evolved to have a shorter life cycle than that of the infected mosquitos it could be disastrous.... But if it worked it would be quite a thing. It´s a very clever way of fighting the dissease

    • 04 Jan, 2009
    • Posted by: Santiago Herce

  • Clever idea, but this seems dangerous to me. What would be the long term effect on the environment? Will this affect the food chain, thus changing the life span or survival potential of other species? An excellent point is made above- did they study how the virus evolves in the lab with the new infected mosquitos?

    • 05 Jan, 2009
    • Posted by: Karen Reece

  • It would give a great advantage to control the disease if the two approaches by Drs Alphey and O'Neill can be combined. Is there any chance they can test the two methods in combination? One will reduce the mosquito population and the other will shorten the lifespan of living females. The danger of new strains of virus evolving remains in many biocontrol programmes, but our strategies to control those are also evolving.

    • 06 Jan, 2009
    • Posted by: Ranjith Pathirana