Letter to BS: Mosquitoes infect between 250 mn and 500 mn people every year

I refer to “Mosquito season is here again” (May 12). It is well accepted that climate change fuels the spread of ailments such as malaria. Mosquitoes infect between 250 million and 500 million people every year. There has been an inspiring range of anti-malarial activities that the world has unleashed on mosquitoes but with modest success. Countries like Sri Lanka have successfully eliminated malaria and the World Health Organisation has declared it malaria-free. The success has been due to the close monitoring and improving standards of public hygiene which is a key component of eliminating the disease. In addition to malaria, mosquitoes are also the transmitters of two other debilitating diseases — dengue and chikungunya. Reports suggest about the emergence of the alarming super malaria — or to put it simply, drug-resistant malaria. It bodes ill for our country since it has already spread to Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and parts of Vietnam. 

The poorly appreciated, but the most significant development to fight malaria outside of drugs which do not seem to be used these days, still happens to be mosquito-blocking bed nets that can reduce malaria deaths by 30 per cent. We can save many lives with these simple yet high-impact shields. Newer technologies like releasing millions of genetically modified or bacteria embedded mosquitoes to reduce their numbers hope to bring the current crisis under control. Another effective approach is to implement the Wolbachia method. Mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacteria introduced into the mosquito, will make it less able to transmit viruses to people, decreasing the risk of mosquito borne illnesses. This approach has been welcomed by local governments, health agencies and community representatives in Sri Lanka, Fiji, Vanuatu and Kiribati as a natural, cost-effective and long-term solution to the burden of mosquito-borne diseases. This programme is being tried out in 10 countries around the world.

India should evaluate the outcome of these studies. Genetically-tweaked mosquitoes or Wolbachia-modified ones may be our best hope for controlling the mosquito-borne diseases. Indian public health authorities should evaluate the potential of this new approach.

H N Ramakrishna Michigan  USA

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