The specialists call for the introduction of the integrated mosquito control strategy as soon as possible.
The specialists of the National Laboratory of Virology of the University of Pécs draw attention to the restrained use of pyrethroid-based chemical treatments, which are widely used in Hungary as well, to reduce the population of biting mosquitoes.
In case of excessive, long-term and one-sided use of this agent, biting mosquitoes become resistant to the active agent through genetic mutation. For this reason, the chemical treatment will be only partially or not at all effective in reducing the mosquito population, they urged in their statement.
The recommendation of the National Center for Public Health and Pharmaceuticals, as well as an international standard, is to monitor these processes in the areas affected by chemical treatments, but this has not yet been resolved in Hungary.
For this reason, the specialists of the laboratory carried out this kind of examination of biting mosquitoes in some important settlements - Budapest, Vác, Győr, Debrecen, Barcs and Pécs - in connection with the domestic epidemic prevention research activity.
In each of these settlements, the experts found that the populations of the song mosquito, one of the most common species in our country - also known as the main spreader of West Nile fever - carry the gene variant responsible for resistance in a significant proportion, i.e. they are resistant to the chemical disinfectant.
The populations of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito, which has recently settled in our country as well, are sensitive to the chemical agent for the time being, however, following the domestic practice, which is mostly based on chemical mitigation, it is only a matter of time before they become resistant, like the song mosquito, they pointed out, referring to the fact that in Spain, Italy , there were similar examples in France, Switzerland, Turkey, and Romania.
According to experts, the solution to the problem would be the introduction of the so-called integrated mosquito control strategy as soon as possible, the essence of which is to combine several treatment methods to protect against mosquitoes based on regular monitoring of mosquitoes and pathogens.
Emphasis should be placed on prevention, and - to prevent the development of resistance - it would be necessary to use the chemical agent in a targeted manner, only in justified cases.
Mosquitoes and ticks
What would the world be without mosquitoes? We also reported on how to get rid of them in an eco-friendly way. Of course, we also gave other tips. For example, how to treat mosquito bites at home. However, these practices certainly do not work against mosquitoes.
A website called Mosquito Monitor was launched with the cooperation of researchers from the Ecological Research Center of the Eötvös Loránd Research Network to map the domestic spread of invasive biting mosquito species that spread pathogens and viruses that are dangerous to humans. At the end of last year, we already wrote that the tiger mosquito appeared in Pécs. It was also interesting news that mosquitoes appeared in Antarctica. In addition to mosquitoes, it is also worth paying attention to ticks in good weather, we have written the details about this topic as well.
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