A Very Tiny Bacterium Called Wolbachia Could Defeat Dengue Atlast!

Scientists have finally concluded something that would amaze people and they are now trying to fight dengue fever with the help of Wolbachia. It is a common bacterium that would stop the virus from replicating inside the mosquitoes that generally transmit the deadly disease. Just Without it, we have few weapons against dengue.

Although the bacterium is only common among insects, it does not infect Aedes aegypti. It's a species of mosquito that is truly a major carrier of dengue.

Instead researchers infect the mosquito with Wolbachia in the laboratory and then release A. aegypti into the wild.

Their very goal is to reduce infections in humans by getting Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes just to be able to mate and pass the bacterium to future generations. If this kind of method works, vast numbers of wild mosquitoes will eventually carry Wolbachia and thus be unable to transmit dengue which is a very good news. Thanks to the very smart scientist, hopefullt this killer dengue would be out as soon as possible.

Credit: Illustration by Bill Mayer