登革熱是一種主要由埃及伊蚊傳播的病毒性傳染病，兒童患者死亡率較高，如何控制登革熱傳播是一個世界性難題。澳大利亞和美國研究人員8月24日表示，這一難題或許可藉助沃爾巴克氏菌來解決，這種細菌可阻止登革熱病毒在蚊子體內複製增殖。
自然界中約28%的蚊子體內天然攜帶共生菌——沃爾巴克氏菌，不過埃及伊蚊不在其列。澳大利亞墨爾本大學、美國加州大學戴維斯分校等機構的研究人員在澳大利亞北部某實驗區釋放了一批染有沃爾巴克氏菌的蚊子。染菌的雄蚊與未感染的雌蚊交配後，雌蚊根本不產卵。而染菌的雌蚊交配後仍可產卵，並能把沃爾巴克氏菌傳給後代。從理論上講，這種趨勢會使染有沃爾巴克氏菌的蚊子越來越多，未感染該細菌的蚊子日益減少，從而抑制登革熱傳播。據研究人員介紹，目前沃爾巴克氏菌正在實驗區的野生蚊子種群中迅速傳播，預計埃及伊蚊也會被感染。
這項研究成果將於25日發表在新一期英國《自然》雜誌上。美國蓋茨基金會已表示將進一步提供資助，支持在澳大利亞、越南和泰國釋放感染沃爾巴克氏菌的蚊子。
美國密西根州立大學助理教授奚志勇2010年4月也曾報告說，他和同事開發了用沃爾巴克氏菌阻止登革熱傳播的方法。奚志勇當時接受新華社記者採訪時說，澳大利亞研究人員也進行了類似研究，不同之處在於兩項研究利用的沃爾巴克氏菌菌株不同。
奚志勇指出，澳大利亞研究人員利用的菌株可以減少蚊子壽命，其有利之處在於可直接減少蚊子向人類傳播登革熱的機率，不足之處在於細菌擴散到整個蚊子種群中的速度會降低。據奚志勇介紹，他們的研究可以延長蚊子的壽命，使被沃爾巴克氏菌感染的蚊子在整個生命周期繁育更多攜帶該細菌的後代，從而儘快將細菌擴散至整個種群。兩種方法可謂殊途同歸，均表明可以直接利用沃爾巴克氏菌遏制登革熱傳播。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
The wMel Wolbachia strain blocks dengue and invades caged Aedes aegypti populations
T. Walker; P. H. Johnson; L. A. Moreira; I. Iturbe-Ormaetxe; F. D. Frentiu; C. J. McMeniman; Y. S. Leong; Y. Dong; J. Axford; P. Kriesner; A. L. Lloyd; S. A. Ritchie; S. L. O』Neill; A. A. Hoffmann
Dengue fever is the most important mosquito-borne viral disease of humans with more than 50 million cases estimated annually in more than 100 countries1, 2. Disturbingly, the geographic range of dengue is currently expanding and the severity of outbreaks is increasing2, 3, 4. Control options for dengue are very limited and currently focus on reducing population abundance of the major mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti5, 6. These strategies are failing to reduce dengue incidence in tropical communities and there is an urgent need for effective alternatives. It has been proposed that endosymbiotic bacterial Wolbachia infections of insects might be used in novel strategies for dengue control7, 8, 9. For example, the wMelPop-CLA Wolbachia strain reduces the lifespan of adult A. aegypti mosquitoes in stably transinfected lines8. This life-shortening phenotype was predicted to reduce the potential for dengue transmission. The recent discovery that several Wolbachia infections, including wMelPop-CLA, can also directly influence the susceptibility of insects to infection with a range of insect and human pathogens9, 10, 11 has markedly changed the potential for Wolbachia infections to control human diseases. Here we describe the successful transinfection of A. aegypti with the avirulent wMel strain of Wolbachia, which induces the reproductive phenotype cytoplasmic incompatibility with minimal apparent fitness costs and high maternal transmission, providing optimal phenotypic effects for invasion. Under semi-field conditions, the wMel strain increased from an initial starting frequency of 0.65 to near fixation within a few generations, invading A. aegypti populations at an accelerated rate relative to trials with the wMelPop-CLA strain. We also show that wMel and wMelPop-CLA strains block transmission of dengue serotype 2 (DENV-2) in A. aegypti, forming the basis of a practical approach to dengue suppression12.