Dengue & Vector Control

According to WHO globally dengue disease is 10th most common cause of mortality
Two-third of the world population is at risk of contracting dengue fever. There are 50 -100 million cases of dengue fever each year. Dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are caused by dengue viruses (genus Flavivirus; family Flaviviridae). Dengue viruses are small, single-stranded, RNA viruses. There are four antigenically-related but distinct serotypes, dengue 1, dengue 2, dengue 3 and dengue. This virus enters the human body through the bite of Aedes mosquito that carry one of the four strains of dengue virus.

There are basically two strategies employed:

1. Study of vector population

2. Evaluation of possible larvicidal activity of some selected plant extracts

On the ground of above strategies and experiments we concluded that A. Squamosa and A. Indica are Good inhibitors of mosquito (Aedes aegypti) breeding. Even if temephos seems to be more effective,leaves extracts are bio degradable, environmentally safe and non toxic to humans as compared to synthetic insecticides such as Temephos or DDT.This study will help to provide basis for developing more effective prevention strategy including bio environmental factors responsible for mosquito breeding & new mosquito control measures.

Research papers highlighting this problem and possible solutions were presented in National conferences on medical microbiology and biotechnology: IAMM, 2004, Mumbai and Anna university Biotechexcellence 2005, Chennai, respectively. As far as culicidae family is concerned knowledge of developmental biology is limited. Therefore it is necessary to study and try to modify the mosquito development in a such a way that mosquitoes will be recognized as friends of human kind and not nuisance.