According to Shinji Kasai, a Japanese scientist, the dengue-type mosquitoes in certain parts of Asia are growing resistant to insecticides and it is worrying. He warns that it is urgent to find a solution to control them.
Kasai and his team are doing research in several countries across Asia and Ghana about it. They found strains in certain mosquitoes increase tremendously. Now they have 1,000-fold resistance compared to the 100-fold seen previously. This means that the insecticides that usually kill almost all mosquitoes can only kill approximately 7 per cent of them. Even if the dose is increased up to 10 times, only 30 per cent of these super-resistant mosquitoes can be killed.
This clearly showcases that new solutions or new chemicals are needed. At the same time, the authorities and researchers must also find ways to protect human beings at the same time. Vaccines, among the solutions, are being considered. The other option is to double down the effort to get rid of the breeding sites.
The research is presently expanding to include Cambodia, Vietnam and certain countries within Asia too. Kasai and his team wish to understand if anything has changed from the 2016-2019 study period.
