Downloaded in Agenda #180: Experts say it is impossible to eradicate Aedes aegypti as in the past: ‘at most control’ | Downloaded in Pauta

Downloaded on the Agenda: Aedes Aegypti is the theme of this week’s podcast

Aedes Aegypti was the theme of this week’s Baixada em Pauta, which featured guests Fábio Lopes, biologist and researcher, and Márcia Guia, nurse and health manager. They have been working with the vector since 1996 in São Vicente, on the coast of São Paulo, in the first epidemic of the disease in the region.

Since then, they said that they faced many difficulties with the lack of resources and qualified people to control the disease, but they developed actions, mapped the area and managed to develop work.

Despite all their efforts, the duo emphasizes that it is the population who plays a fundamental role in preventing the increase in cases and deaths from the disease. Because vector control in urban areas is directly related to the elimination of mosquito larvae outbreaks inside homes.

According to Fábio, the mosquito will never be eradicated again, as happened in 1955 following the action of public health doctor Oswaldo Cruz. This, in 1920, acted and controlled the proliferation of the mosquito, which was considered eradicated thirty years later.

“It will not be eradicated, so much so that the name of the eradication plan changed to the National Dengue Control Plan. It is no longer possible to eradicate (the mosquito). Aedes aegypti is closely linked to artificial breeding sites: cans, jars, bottles, drum, barrel, cistern, water tank”, said the biologist.

Still according to him, in 1996, when he began working on mosquito control, it laid eggs in 12 different types of breeding sites. “Today, there are 40 of them, apart from other subtypes. It is directly linked to our incompetence in managing recyclable waste. We do not manage 2% of our recycling potential in Brazil. Aedes aegypti is here to stay.”

Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits dengue fever and other diseases, according to the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz), originates from Egypt, in Africa, and has been spreading across the planet since the 16th century, during the great navigations.

The vector was scientifically described for the first time in 1762, when it was named Culex aegypti. The definitive name – Aedes aegypti – was established in 1818, after the description of the genus Aedes.

According to the Fiocruz institute, reports from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) show that the first dengue epidemic on the American continent occurred in Peru, at the beginning of the 19th century, with outbreaks in the Caribbean, the United States, Colombia and Venezuela.

In Brazil, the first reports of dengue date back to the end of the 19th century, in Curitiba (PR), and the beginning of the 20th century, in Niterói (RJ). Today, the mosquito is found in all Brazilian states.

Data from the Ministry of Health show that the first documented occurrence of the dengue virus in the country occurred between 1981-1982, in Boa Vista (RR), caused by the DENV-1 and DENV-4 viruses. Years later, in 1986, there were epidemics in Rio de Janeiro and in some capitals in the Northeast. Since then, dengue has been occurring continuously in Brazil.

You can check out this story and many others in the chat on the Baixada em Pauta podcast or videocast. Access can be made to this article, on the g1 Santos home page, on your favorite audio apps or on Facebook. Just like the pages and follow us!

A podcast is like a radio program, but it’s not: instead of having a set time to air, it can be heard whenever and wherever we want. And instead of tuning into a radio station, we find it on the internet. For free.

You can listen to it on a website, on a music platform or on a podcast-only app on your cell phone, so you can listen whenever you prefer: in traffic, washing dishes, at the beach, at the gym…

Podcasts can be themed, tell a unique story, feature debates or simply conversations on a wide range of topics. It is possible to listen to individual episodes or subscribe to a podcast – for free – and thus be notified whenever a new episode is published.