Groundbreaking trial sees dengue fever cases slashed

Dengue fever cases have been cut by 77 per cent in a groundbreaking trial study in Indonesia that researchers hope can be expanded worldwide to dramatically reduce the impact of the potentially fatal virus. The three-year experiment in Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, tested whether infecting Aedes aegyptimosquitoes – the normal carriers of dengue – with bacteria called Wolbachia would reduce incidences of dengue among

3- to 45-year-olds. The results, published in the Newengland Journal ofmedicine, showa 77 per cent fall in cases, and an 86 per cent reduction in hospitalisations in Wolbachiatreated areas, the World Mosquito Programme team that conducted the trial said.