In Honduras, the fight against dengue has mostly centered on educating people to dread mosquitoes and stay away from their bites for decades. However, an innovative strategy is gaining traction, bringing hope to the struggle against the deadly viral disease.
A group of Honduran volunteers, headed by 52-year-old mason Hector Enriquez, released millions of specially bred mosquitoes into the air in Tegucigalpa's El Manchen area and celebrated. Scientists carefully developed these mosquitoes to contain Wolbachia bacteria, impairing dengue disease transmission, according to AP News.
More than a dozen nations are testing this ground-breaking method, which the nonprofit World Mosquito Program developed over the last 10 years.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is carefully watching the mosquito releases in Honduras and other countries with intentions to spread this ground-breaking strategy globally since more than half of the world's population is in danger of catching dengue.
Dengue's Big Challenge
Doctors Without Borders and the World Mosquito Program are collaborating in Honduras, where around 10,000 individuals contract dengue each year. They plan to release roughly 9 million mosquitoes with Wolbachia over the next six months as part of their concentrated attempt to fight the illness.
The founder of the mosquito program, Scott O'Neill, underlined the need to find fresh methods for preventing dengue, per The Hindu. Traditional techniques for fighting dengue-causing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have failed owing to pesticide resistance. The four distinct dengue virus strains also make vaccine-based strategies more challenging.
The fact that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes like to bite during the day makes them much more problematic since bed nets are mostly useless when they do this. Experts have acknowledged the urgent need for creative solutions since climate change and urbanization provide the perfect circumstances for these insects to flourish.
Raman Velayudhan, a researcher with the WHO's Global Neglected Tropical Diseases Program, praised the Wolbachia technique and called it a "long-term, sustainable solution." Millions worldwide suffer from neglected tropical vector-borne dengue. The WHO estimates 390 million dengue cases each year, threatening 3.9 billion people.
Caring for someone with mild #dengue? Here’s what you can do. pic.twitter.com/QTaKDVgknN
— World Health Organization South-East Asia (@WHOSEARO) September 5, 2023
Hopeful in The New Strategy Against Dengue
The transmission of dengue has grown during the past 50 years due to environmental changes, population growth, climate unpredictability, and urbanization. Climate change is anticipated to spread dengue to additional locations since it favors Aedes mosquitoes.
Dengue persists as a growing problem despite huge advances in fighting mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria. Dengue outbreaks may overwhelm healthcare systems and disrupt everyday life while often exhibiting severe symptoms similar to the worst instances of influenza, per Mongbay.
Notably, the introduction of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes resulted in a surprising 76% decrease in reported dengue infections in a large-scale field study in Indonesia in 2019.
Although early studies have shown promise, concerns still exist over the Wolbachia strategy's long-term efficacy and cost-efficiency.
This innovative approach to dengue in Honduras shows hope to a world facing the grave challenges of dengue. The WHO is prepared to assist with additional testing and the use of the Wolbachia approach to stop the dengue outbreak, working with researchers and organizations from across the globe.
