The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fundação Fiocruz) played a key role in the development of the innovative dengue trap, known as Larvicide Dissemination Station (EDL).
The entity is a renowned public health research institution in Brazil and has stood out in the fight against several vector-borne diseases, including dengue.
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EDL is an initiative that began at Fiocruz Amazônia in 2011, when researchers at the institution began to develop such a strategy to combat the proliferation of Aedes aegypti.
The trap is very simple and consists of a black plastic bucket with a mesh inside impregnated with pyriproxyfen larvicide, effective in eliminating mosquito larvae.
The great advantage of EDL is its simplicity and accessibility. It can be produced manually at a relatively low cost (around R$10 per unit).
Such a measure against dengue is a viable option for municipalities and communities looking for an effective, low-cost solution to combat dengue.
Furthermore, the city of São Paulo also discovered a technique to eradicate dengue mosquitoes.
Although these approaches are remarkably similar, they were conceived independently without mutual knowledge.
The trap acquired by the city of São Paulo was developed by the Dutch company In2care and has a unit cost of around R$400.
These traps consist of black buckets designed to attract females from the Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits dengue, zika and chikungunya.
Inside the bucket, a fabric impregnated with pyriproxyfen larvicide and the fungus Beauveria bassiana is used, substances transmitted to the mosquito when it lands on the site.
(Image: São Paulo City Hall/Reproduction)
When the mosquito enters and leaves the bucket, it carries the larvicide with it, resulting in the contamination of other breeding sites and the interruption of the development of new larvae. Furthermore, the fungus reduces the insect's ability to transmit dengue fever and, in around ten days, leads to death.
On the one hand, the EDL strategy has shown remarkable results in practical tests. In this regard, there have been significant reductions in the population of dengue-transmitting mosquitoes in areas where it has been implemented.
The studies conducted by Fiocruz demonstrated the impressive effectiveness of EDL, with a reduction of up to 80% in the mosquito population in some locations after using these traps.
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