A LITTLE MOSQUITO with such a Big BITE!

Picture by: Nauman Malik

            Ever had a mosquito? Imagine being bite by a mosquito and waking up with a rash, headache and a fever? Well a mosquito known as Aedes aegypti mosquito is biting many individuals leaving them with dengue fever. In  Southeast Asia was reported to have 200 people dead due to dengue fever. Dengue is a disease transmitted by mosquito and causes an infection with flu-like symptoms. The question on many researchers mind is what caused this widespread infection?

            According to "Defective" Virus Leads to Epidemic of Dengue Fever this infection may be “defective.” This article defines a defective virus as a “results from genetic mutations or deletions that eliminate essential function.” This virus has a huge mutation rate which played a key factor in spreading this disease. With a huge amount of researcher it was proven this virus was spreading quickly because it was fusing with a functional virus “tagging along” making it more transmissible. The functional and nonfunctional virus, travel as one trying to get into the same cell to share their genes.

            The article also states the defective virus interferes with “diseases-causing virus making the disease less intense.” Since people had less effect of the milder disease they are mostly likely responsible for spreading the disease by going outside. The scientist use gene sequencing to show the defective virus and display its unbroken chain. Lloyd-Smith and Ke (scientist conducting research) are looking for a cure using mathematical models and bioinformatics.To read more about this study click this link :http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127103&org=NSF. 

Picture by:  Mikael Häggström