That’s very good to hear. :)
For those who want the details, I can recommend an open-access scientific article.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224001639
Put shortly: these mosquitos don’t naturally carry the bacterium Wolbachia, but if it’s introduced in their population, it can bring about a big reduction in dengue virus transmission.
We report here on an average reduction in dengue fever of 62.4% (confidence intervals 50–71%) in 20 releases sites when compared to 76 control sites in high-rise residential areas. Importantly the level of dengue reduction increased with Wolbachia frequency, with 75.8% reduction (61–87%) estimated at 100% Wolbachia frequency. These findings indicate large impacts of wAlbB Wolbachia invasions on dengue fever incidence in an operational setting, with incidence expected to further decrease as wider areas are invaded
…and that will save many people their health, or even their life. :)
Yep, it’s great news. Dengue has been plaguing my country for ages, those who get it will tell you stories of how tough it is to get through, because it doesn’t have any cure.
how tough it is to get through
And it [the fever sickness] sometimes comes back they say. Is this true, or do they get bitten again?
I haven’t heard of that case before, i don’t think it’s documented. What i heard is there’s like a few variant(4? 6?) of the virus, where you will be immuned to the one you recovered from, but not the other variant. So you can only get it for a few times, assuming you can survive all.
Edit: just checked, 4 confirmed type, and lifelong immunity.
Yeah that’s what people have told me. But I never understood it either. Afaik there are 4 variants, but when you get stung by a certain other kind of one of the variants can cause complications iirc.
“Wolbachia is a bacterium introduced into Aedes mosquitoes in Malaysia to reduce dengue transmission.”
