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Asia’s Super-Resistant Mutant Mosquitoes Trigger Alarm

© AP Photo / Felipe DanaIn this Jan. 27, 2016, file photo, an Aedes aegypti mosquito known to carry the Zika virus and Dengue fever is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil.
In this Jan. 27, 2016, file photo, an Aedes aegypti mosquito known to carry the Zika virus and Dengue fever is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. - Sputnik India, 1920, 11.01.2023
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The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there was approximately 100-400 million dengue infections in 2022.
Mosquitoes transmitting dengue and other viral deseases have started to develop resistance against insecticides in some parts of Asia, new research has concluded. The findings have sounded alarm bells in local health authorities.
The conclusions may impact regular health authority measures of spraying fog-containing insecticides to kill mosquitoes and larvas, especially after rains.
Japanese scientist Shinji Kasai told foreign media that after examining mosquitoes from several countries in Asia, as well as in Ghana, researchers discovered a “series of mutations had made some virtually impervious to popular pyrethroid-based chemicals like permethrin.”
During recent studies, his team found that some mosquitoes have developed stronger strains than previously thought. Previous investigations suggested that 100-fold resistance had been developed, but new findings suggest this may be 1,000-fold. This means that only 30% of 100-fold mosquitoes and 7% of 1,000-fold mosquitoes will perish upon spraying.
A municipal worker fumigates an alley in an impoverished area to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 2, 2016. - Sputnik India, 1920, 19.12.2022
Sputnik Opinion
Learn About the Silent Spreader of the Zika Virus
This is not the first time that research has indicated that mosquitoes have started to adapt. In 2020, Yale university carried out a study that found that the Aedes aegypti — traditionally seen as a forest species adapted to human settlements — is now also evolving due to climate change.
Although most mosquitoes do not feed on human blood, Aedes aegypti infect millions of people every year – especially young children – with yellow fever, malaria, dengue and Zika, causing tens of thousands of deaths each year.
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