Pallottine Gate

With Brazil’s rainy season approaching, experts say it’s necessary to redouble the attention and care to prevent the formation of breeding sites for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits dengue, Zika, chikungunya and urban yellow fever. With rains and rising temperatures, residents, businesses and public authority must exercise caution to avoid a new outbreak of dengue fever in the country.

A survey by the Ministry of Health indicates that the number of dengue cases in Brazil increased by nearly 185% between January and October this year compared to the same period last year, reaching a level of 1.3 million notifications. In this period, 909 deaths were recorded, which is a very telling number.

According to the World Health Organization, to prevent this and other disease, it is necessary to invest in effective measures to control vector mosquitoes. The main guideline is to eliminate standing water in places that could become breeding grounds. In addition, the government has the National Dengue Control Program (PNCD), which has provided guidance to states and municipalities to combat epidemics, through measures such as spraying public places with insecticides, insect control, and sanitation, among others.

For Natalia Verza Ferreira, a Ph.D. in genetics and molecular biology and director of Oxitec do Brasil, all of these measures are important, but they are no longer very effective, with the number of cases increasing rather than declining. According to her, it is necessary to update protocols to control Aedes aegypti, including sustainable solutions that are already approved for use in Brazil, such as Aedes do Bem™ – an insect with self-identifying genes that helps control the Aedes Aegypti mosquito in a safe and environmentally sustainable way – especially And that the country is about to enter a new rainy season, a period when mosquitoes breed more easily.