Can Science Create a Vaccine from Mosquito Saliva?
It’s no secret that mosquitoes cause a lot more harm than they do good. They are carriers of a wide range of diseases, including dengue fever, yellow fever, malaria and Zika, in addition to others. Even if you get bitten by a mosquito that isn’t carrying a disease, you are still subjected to unbearably itchiness.
Since it seems like mosquitoes only cause misery, you may think that they only way to deal with these pests is to get rid of them completely. For a long time, this was the approach that science took. They also believed that by getting rid of these flying insects, it would reduce disease transmission and deaths around the world.
Unfortunately, that endeavor has turned out to be incredibly challenging. Just when scientists thought they were making headway, global warming changed the mosquitoes’ patterns. They’re no longer confined to certain areas of the world. With temperatures rising everywhere, mosquitoes are migrating and thriving in places they had never been before — and they are bringing their diseases with them.
If You Can’t Eradicate Them, Find Another Use for Them
Since total eradication of mosquitoes isn’t going to happen, scientists have been looking for other ways to use mosquitoes to their advantage. One of the current studies looks at using mosquito saliva to create vaccines.
Vaccines have been incredibly successful in eradicating deadly diseases throughout the human population. In essence, a vaccine exposes your body to a weakened or dead virus that can make you a little sick. Your immune system then mounts a defense against the invader, killing it without any risk of you developing the disease. If you are ever exposed to that disease again in your life, your body will be able to fight it off.
It has long been known that the mosquito’s saliva is how pathogens are transmitted. With that in mind, the goal of the saliva study is to develop a vaccine that allows human bodies to develop a defense against the mosquito’s spit and destroy it before it gets into your system. The thought is that if your body can fight off the saliva, it will prevent any disease that the mosquito might be carrying from entering your body.
Progress Is Being Made, But No Vaccines Yet
While progress is being made in this field, there aren’t any mosquito saliva vaccines that are available on the market. That means that if you’re looking for a way to reduce mosquito-borne illnesses and not spend your summer scratching bug bites, you have to look for other ways to keep mosquitoes out of your yard.
At MosquitoNix®, we offer a wide range of pest control systems for your home and business. Not only will our misting system or fogging treatments rid your property of mosquitoes, but it will also take care of ticks, which can also be carriers of disease.
Science will continue to work to find a way to stop mosquitoes from killing hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, but until then, you need to protect your family and your customers in other ways. Adding a pest control system is the best way to achieve your goals.
Contact MosquitoNix today to find the system that will work for all of your pest control needs! Choose a free in-person quote or a virtual consultation if you know the service you want.
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