MedPageToday People living in areas with infected male mosquitoes saw their dengue risk drop 71%. Releasing male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes into the wild that were infected with the sterility-inducing bacteria Wolbachia pipientis cut dengue infection risk more than 70% in people, according to a cluster-randomized trial in Singapore.
In urban locations where wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes were introduced, the percentage of residents who tested positive for dengue infection at 6 months or more after the intervention was 6% (354 of 5,722 tests) compared with 21% (1,519 of 7,080 tests) in urban locations where the infected male mosquitoes weren’t introduced, reported Lee Ching Ng, PhD, of the National Environment Agency in Singapore, and colleagues. The intervention’s protective efficacy after 3 months was 71%, reaching 72% at 6 months and settling at 71% 12 months and later, the researchers detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Release of sterile wolbachia-infected male A. aegypti mosquitoes may be a method for the control of dengue by reducing both vector populations and the risk of dengue virus infection,” Ng and colleagues wrote. “The technology can complement conventional approaches and vaccination to further reduce and potentially eliminate dengue transmission, along with possibly other Aedes-borne diseases.”