Table of Contents  
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Year : 2015  |  Volume : 8  |  Issue : 3  |  Page : 414-415  

Mosquito menace: A major threat in modern era


Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India

Date of Web Publication15-May-2015

Correspondence Address:
Kalaivani Annadurai
Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Kancheepuram - 603 108, Tamil Nadu
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/0975-2870.150500

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How to cite this article:
Annadurai K, Danasekaran R, Mani G, Ramasamy J. Mosquito menace: A major threat in modern era. Med J DY Patil Univ 2015;8:414-5

How to cite this URL:
Annadurai K, Danasekaran R, Mani G, Ramasamy J. Mosquito menace: A major threat in modern era. Med J DY Patil Univ [serial online] 2015 [cited 2024 Mar 29];8:414-5. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/mjdy/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?2015/8/3/414/150500

Sir,

Mosquitoes are present all over the world, except the regions near the two poles and altitudes beyond 2000 meters. Of about 3500 mosquitoes species, 100 species are capable of transmitting diseases to humans including malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, rift valley fever, and other viral encephalitis. [1] Back in 300 B.C., itself Aristotle has documented their life cycle and metamorphic abilities in his "Historia Animalium." [2]

World health day theme for 2014 is "Vector-borne diseases- small creature, big threat." [3] This implies the importance of mosquito-borne diseases and its control worldwide. In spite of innovations and revolutions in diagnostics, drug therapy, and vector control measures, the global burden of vector-borne diseases especially mosquito-borne diseases remains unacceptably high.

Among the mosquito-borne diseases, majority of the morbidity and mortality are attributed to Malaria and Dengue. Currently, around 100 countries are reported to have active transmission of Malaria and Dengue. In 2012, there were an estimated 207 million malaria cases, with more than one case per 1000 population in high-risk areas and 627000 deaths due to malaria. Dengue fever afflicts an estimated 100 million people per year. In the recent years, the magnitude of dengue problem has increased dramatically from just nine countries in 1970 to over 100 countries in 2012. [4]

Millennium development goal six has set 2015 as target to halt and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases. [5] At current pace, it will be difficult to achieve this target without effective and intelligent implementation of Integrated Vector Management. Integrated vector management adopted by World Health Organization in 2004 is a cost-effective interventional approach to overcome the challenges posed by conventional single intervention approach for mosquito control. It uses more than one method simultaneously such as environmental, chemical, biological, and mechanical methods to fight against mosquito menace. [4]

In many parts of the world, mosquitoes have developed resistance to almost all insecticides. In addition, rapid urbanization, unplanned cities, industrialization are posing threat to further increase in mosquito's population. Currently, insecticide-treated bed net use by children are well below the target of universal coverage. [5]

Emerging anti-malarial drug resistance for newer drugs like artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) has serious implications on global health. Resistance to artemisinin, the key compound in ACT, has been detected in four countries in South-Eastern Asia, while mosquito resistance to insecticides has been found in 64 countries around the world. [5] On the other hand, for life-threatening diseases like Dengue and Japanese encephalitis, only symptomatic treatment were available till now. Currently, vaccines are available for two mosquito-borne diseases like Japanese encephalitis and Yellow fever. Although major efforts are under way to develop vaccines for Malaria and Dengue, no vaccines for these diseases will be available in the near future.

Ultimately, it is the mosquito control that plays an important role for elimination of these killer diseases. Hence, there is an urgent need for global action against mosquitoes to protect the vulnerable population. Global strategic plan should be planned for mosquito control with special emphasis on novel mosquito control strategies for sustainable prevention of mosquito-borne diseases.




 

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