[maureen_dass]

Hello f2014843

I am sorry to hear of the amount of people who have died in your country from dengue fever. Can I ask which country is this? I agree with you in that prevention is better than cure especially for vector borne diseases. As composed to other types of diseases such as hereditary or autoimmune diseases, lifestyle and vector borne disease have a solution. So why the global resurgence of vector borne infectious diseases?

Vector borne infectious diseases are a result of a number of combined factors such as global climate change, lack of public education, developing resistance to insecticides and medications, shifting of emphasis on treatment options rather than prevention techniques and measures and genetic modification and changes of pathogens. But the one common thread of all vector borne diseases is effective prevention measures such as the use environmentally safe chemicals, proper training and education of persons in the communities, vaccines development and alternatives approaches to vector control.

To date the most effective method of controlling the spread of dengue is larviciding. Larviciding is killing mosquito larvae before they emerge into adult mosquitoes, however different countries use different chemicals for larviciding. The reason for this is that some chemicals are actually banned from use in developed countries and it all depends on what is available. In addition different strains of mosquitoes are indigenous to different locations. Regardless of what chemicals are being used for example organophospates, their repeated use can lead to disruption of the natural ecosystem and can even cause resistance. Thus there is the need for the development of eco-friendly products.

This has prompted research into plant origins that have natural larvicidal properties. Extracted oils from certain seeds such as Z. Armatum DC also known as Rutaceae has proven efficient against three mosquito strains however more research needs to be performed for wide scale use.1

1. Tiwary M et al. (2007) Chemical composition and larvicidal activities of the essential oil of Zanthoxylum armatum DC (Rutaceae) against three mosquito vectors. JVect Borne Dis 44 pp 198-204.