2024-02-03 02:00:01
Mosquitoes are manipulated in a biofactory in Rio Reproduction / Fiocruz Contrary to the spike in dengue numbers in the state of Rio de Janeiro — especially the capital that is facing an epidemic of the disease, with 10 thousand cases in 2024, the municipality of Niterói, in the metropolitan region , registered only three confirmations in the same period, according to city hall data. The result is largely attributed to a project that uses the mosquito that transmits the virus manipulated in the laboratory to create a protective barrier. Leader of the program in the country, the researcher from Fiocruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz), Luciano Moreira, says that Niterói is the first Brazilian city 100% covered by the Wolbachia method. The work began in 2015, with the introduction into nature of mosquitoes with the bacteria of the same name. According to the specialist, it is capable of blocking the transmission of arboviruses, such as dengue, zika and chikungunya. “I believe that the method has the capacity to have a great influence on this reduction in dengue cases in Niterói. It is important to highlight that the entire context of an epidemic is multifactorial. There are several things that can happen to cause an epidemic or not: temperature, environment and community actions. We have already shown, in 2021, a scientific article with a reduction of around 70% of dengue cases in the municipality in relation to the previous history”, explained the researcher. See also Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro will have research on a vaccine against dengue in adults Rio de Janeiro Public defender in Rio sees failure in prevention and calls for measures against dengue In an interview with R7, the specialist made a point of reinforcing that the Fiocruz project is another measure to combat dengue fever and other actions to eliminate mosquito outbreaks need to be maintained: “It is very important to say that people must continue to do their homework. Let’s not relax and stop taking care of the yard, paying attention to potted plants”. How does the Wolbachia method work? undefined Actions to combat mosquito outbreaks need to be maintained Disclosure/ City Hall of Niterói Luciano Moreira explains that Wolbachia, a bacterium present in around 60% of insects, is inserted into eggs of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits dengue fever. After a certain time, mosquitoes with Wolbachia are released to multiply in nature. “When the male mosquito with Wolbachia crosses with the female in the field, which does not have this bacteria, she becomes sterile. And, on the other hand, the female can cross with a male with or without Wolbachia and all the offspring will be born containing the bacteria “, said Moreira. The discovery was made by a group of scientists in Australia, between 2008 and 2009, and included the participation of the Fiocruz researcher. The expert highlights that the process is sustainable and poses no risks to humans or the environment. Expansion to other cities in Brazil After implementing the project in Niterói and regions of Rio de Janeiro, the mosquito with Wolbachia is already present in other cities in the country, such as Belo Horizonte (MG), Campo Grande (MS) and Petrolina (PE ) — in different phases of study and analysis. “In 2024, we are going to six new municipalities. The Ministry of Health announced, at the end of last year, in a vision of public health policy. The department will test several methods to think about control [nacional] integrated”, said Moreira. To expand the work, the researcher highlights the importance of building the new biofactory, the result of a partnership between IBMP (Institute of Molecular Biology of Paraná) with Fiocruz and WMP (World Mosquito Program), in the production of mosquito eggs with Wolbachia.” Our bottleneck, today, was the large-scale production of mosquitoes, and we hope that, next year, we will be able to serve more municipalities. The idea is to go to places that have epidemic levels of arbovirus cases,” he concluded.
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