"One way to stop the spread of diseases transmitted by insects is to make the blood of animals and humans toxic," according to researchers.
"One way to stop the spread of diseases transmitted by insects is to make the blood of animals and humans toxic," according to researchers. Researchers have discovered that a medication typically prescribed for rare diseases could make human blood deadly for mosquitoes, offering a potential lead to curb diseases such as malaria. They experimented with a drug called nitisinone, which is usually prescribed to individuals with rare inherited diseases that typically prevent them from being able to fully break down certain amino acids. The medication works by blocking an enzyme to prevent the build-up of harmful disease byproducts in the human body. When mosquitoes drink blood that contains nitisinone, the drug also blocks the enzyme in their bodies, stopping them from properly digesting the blood, leading them to quickly die, according to their findings published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. "One way to stop the spread of diseases transmitted by insects is to make the blood of animals and humans toxic to these blood-feeding insects," Lee R Haines, associate research professor at the University of Notre Dame in the US and co-lead author of the study, said in a statement. "Our findings suggest that using nitisinone could be a promising new complementary tool for controlling insect-borne diseases like malaria". Personal protective measures include wearing covering clothes, the use of mosquito repellent and the use of bed nets or window and door screens.
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