Berries may fight dengue mosquitos

Burdwan , West Bengal : A new study published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine has found that extracts from common weed berries found across India can be effectively used to control the spread of dengue fever.
 

The study was conducted by three researchers, Goutam Chandra, Nandita Chowdhury and Anupam Ghosh from the Burdwan University in West Bengal. The researchers successfully extracted juice from the Solanum villosum weed found commonly across India and found that the extracts were able to destroy the Stegomyia aegypti larvae which is the main vector for yellow fever and dengue.

Lead researcher Goutam Chandra revealed that while the procedure might not be as effective as using chemical insecticides, the extracts could be used in stagnant water to kill off the larvae before they are born.

Chandra added that while his team found two chemical compounds, known as phytochemicals, the secondary phytochemicals could prove to be the more effective in countering the dangerous effects of the larvae.

Over 50 million people get contracted by the disease every year with over 1 percent suffering from the severe dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). There are no vaccines or drugs to treat the disease which is rapidly spreading across the globe due to constant international travel. Last year over 22,000 people died due to dengue with the majority being children.

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