Scientists in Vietnam releases Dengue-blocking mosquito

Scientists have managed to find ways to reduce the spread of dengue by infecting aedes mosquitoes with bacteria from fruit flies.

Mosquitoes implanted with the Wolbachia bacteria act as natural vaccines to prevent the mosquitoes from being infected with the dengue virus and shortening the life cycle of mosquitoes with the virus.

At the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Vietnam, mosquitoes were deliberately infected with the bacterium called Wolbachia.

It works to prevent mosquitoes from being infected with dengue, thus preventing it from transferring the disease to the public.

The discovery even garnered the attention of scientists at Monash University, Australia.

Wolbachia is a bacteria commonly found in most insects , especially fruit flies.

Research conducted in a small community in Australia has yielded encouraging result.

After two and a half years, Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes were found to have taken over the population of normal mosquitoes, with 95 percent of mosquitoes remain dominant.

Oxford University study estimated that about 390 million people in tropical countries are infected with dengue each year.

It is three times more than the World Health Organisation previous released figures.