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EM BREVE VOLTAREMOS NA SUA CASA A randomized controlled clinical trial in the Americas assesses whether mosquito with Wolbachia reduces the number of cases by observing children aged 6 to 11 years

Considering the release of mosquitoes with Wolbachia in different neighborhoods of Belo Horizonte, the team of researchers from UFMG is ready to start, next Monday, June 14, another stage of the Evita Dengue Project, the first randomized and double-study Americas to evaluate the effectiveness of the release of these mosquitoes.

Logo.corThe Evita Dengue project is coordinated in Brazil by professor Mauro Teixeira, from the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology of the Institute of Biological Sciences at UFMG and coordinator of the National Institute of Science and Technology in Dengue (INCT Dengue), and developed in international collaboration with researchers Srilatha Edupuganti of Emory University; Derek Cummings of the University of Florida and Albert Ko of Yale University. Partners are also the Virology Research Laboratory of the São José do Rio Preto Medical School, the Municipality of Belo Horizonte, the Minas Gerais State Health Secretariat and the Ministry of Health.

THE UFMG STUDY

For a period of four years, starting in 2020, the objective of the research is to test the effectiveness of the Wolbachia method in reducing the incidence of arboviruses, including Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya. In the stage that begins this June, the researchers' work will consist of repeating the visitation carried out between August and November 2020 for a new collection of data and of the more than 3500 children recruited. These children are enrolled in 58 municipal public schools selected to participate in the research.

The schools are distributed across all regions of Belo Horizonte. In the study, regions where 29 of the schools are located, received the release of the Aedes mosquito with Wolbachia at first. The data collected in the other 29 regions where there will be no release of the WMP mosquitoes will make up the project's control group. Later, after evaluating the data collected in the study, these regions will receive the release of mosquitoes with Wolbachia.

The option for children aged 6 to 11 is mainly because in this age group, children are usually more restricted to their home and school. All children involved agreed to participate and were authorized by their legal guardians.

"A Cluster-randomized Trial to EValuate the Efficacy of Wolbachia-InfecTed Aedes Aegypti Mosquitoes in Reducing the Incidence of Arboviral Infection in Brazil” - Evita Dengue Project, also provides for educational activities to promote scientific thinking. These projects will be developed together with the teaching staff of the 58 selected schools.

THE WOLBACHIA METHOD

Mosquitoes developed by the World Mosquito Program (WMP), a global non-profit organization, were first launched in Australia in 2011 and the program is now active in 11 countries. The method is based on the insertion of Wolbachia bacteria, naturally found in harmony in many insects, and that no Aedes aegypti mosquito can reduce its ability to transmit dengue, Zika and Chikungunya.

mosquito 1332382 1920 Imagem de Welcome to all and thank you for your visit Por PixabayOnce released into the environment, Wolbachia mosquitoes reproduce with native mosquitoes and start transmitting the bacteria to their offspring. After this release, the proportion of these mosquitoes naturally increases in the environment over time, making the rest of the mosquito area less capable of transmitting diseases such as dengue.

This tool is complementary to other arbovirus control actions. The implementation of the WMP Method in Belo Horizonte is carried out by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in partnership with local health authorities and with funding from the Ministry of Health of Brazil.

In August 2020, the results of an experimental trial conducted in the city of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, inducing a 77% reduction in dengue incidence in communities treated with Wolbachia. About this result, Mauro Teixeira observes that “the geography and climate in Belo Horizonte are very different from those of Yogyakarta and these differences have a significant impact on the transmission of those infected with arboviruses”. In the scientist's view, this study in Belo Horizonte is fundamental for understanding the general applicability of the Method in the region.

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

If successful, the UFMG research will provide strong scientific evidence that the Wolbachia method reduces dengue and other mosquito-borne infections, and may support the use of a safe, natural and self-sustaining intervention in regions of the world where diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes are endemic. Mauro Teixeira says he is anxious to start the new stage of the study, “which could have a strong impact on the way we deal with arboviruses. We use rigorous scientific criteria that will validate the eventual large-scale use of the Wolbachia method”, he says.

“We are thrilled that we were able to launch this impactful study and start implementing the intervention in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic,” says Srilatha Edupuganti, a researcher at Emory University in the United States, who coordinates the studies at the international level. “More epidemiological data, such as those from the Evita Dengue trial, may support the results of the study in Niterói”, highlights Luciano Moreira, researcher and leader of the WMP in Brazil, referring to preliminary observational data that show a 60% reduction in the number of cases of Chikungunya in Niterói using the same method. The clinical trial is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, under contract HHSN272201300018I.

 

 

 

 

PRESS INFORMATION

For interviews with those responsible for Evita Dengue, at UFMG: Mauro Martins Teixeira and Fátima Brant (Center for Research and Development of Drugs at ICB UFMG) and Adla Betsaida (Education UFMG), please contact journalist Marcus Vinicius dos Santos (marcus@icb.ufmg.br - +55 031 9 9131 9115 Whatsapp and Telegram).

For interviews with the leader of the Wolbachia Method in Brazil, Luciano Moreira (Fiocruz Minas), please contact Guilherme Costa ( - +55 021 9 9643 4805).

 

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