USE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED MOSQUITOES TO FIGHT DENGUE IN BRAZIL

Mosquito-borne diseases are one of the major barrie rs preventing economic progress in the developing w orld. According to the World Health Organization, 200 million people were victims of malaria in 2010 and 655 ,000, mostly children, died from it. Dengue fever is beli eved to affect 50-100 million people per year and r esults in around 20,000 deaths. Dengue is the most important mosquito-borne, human viral disease in many tropical and sub-tropical areas. In Brazil the disease has been essentially described in the form of case series.De spite the presence of dengue in Brazil since the early 1981s, dengue has become a major public health issue, wit h a high morbidity and mortality. Aedes aegypti and Aedes al bopictus are the vectors responsible for the transm ission of dengue viruses (DENV). The genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes being used in these field experiments and cited alternative methods for dengue control. This technology and its impact to the environment studie s have focused on controlling the mosquito populations by genetically modifying the insects. Tactics to prote ct people in endemic areas such as stopping mosquito bites us ing insecticides, net and repellents, developing pr eventive drugs and health education to manage mosquito-borne diseases have not shown full effectiveness.