Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: Berries may fight dengue mosquitos

Berries may fight dengue mosquitos
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LOCALCORRESPONDENT on 03 April, 2008 04:09:00
 
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.