Jamaine Punzalan

Anopheles gambiae mosquito being injected with hemolymph for malaria research study. NIAID

Article (news)

Deutsche Welle

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17433862826606045733462_cb0be8d4bb_z.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Anopheles gambiae mosquito being injected with hemolymph for malaria research study. <em>NIAID </em></span></span></span></div><div><br id="isPasted"/></div><p>A drug used to treat a rare inherited disease has been found to make human blood toxic to malaria-carrying mosquitoes. It could provide another tool to reduce deadly insect populations.</p><p>Mosquitoes are considered the deadliest animal on the planet — carrying diseases that kill more than one million people a year.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2024/8/20/the-most-dangerous-mosquito-borne-diseases-1055">The most dangerous mosquito-borne diseases</a></div><p>Scientists have found that a drug called nitisinone, which is used to treat people with a rare inherited disease called tyrosinemia, makes human blood toxic to mosquitoes.</p><p>Although it doesn&#x27;t prevent the transmission of the malaria parasite Plasmodium, nitisinone is now being considered for further field tests as a chemical control to reduce the number of insects capable of spreading the disease.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>What is the mosquito-killing drug?</strong></div><p>Nitisinone is used to treat hereditary tyrosinemia type 1, which is a disease where people have too much tyrosine in their blood.</p><p>Lab tests found that when a mosquito bites someone who’s been taking nitisinone, the presence of the drug prevents the insect from being able to digest the human &quot;blood meal&quot; — 24 hours later, the insect dies. Nitisinone is toxic to mosquitoes in a way that it isn&#x27;t to humans.</p><p>Compared to ivermectin, another chemical that has been investigated as a mosquito vector control, nitisinone lasts longer in the bloodstream.</p><p>It&#x27;s also versatile, as it can be vaporized and sprayed on surfaces, meaning it can act like an insecticide.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2025/2/17/mandaluyong-barangay-offers-p1-for-every-5-mosquitoes-larvae-caught-1719">Mandaluyong barangay offers P1 for every 5 mosquitoes, larvae caught</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>An insecticide in your blood?</strong></div><p>While field tests are required to ensure the drug is effective in malaria-prone areas, the early findings suggest it could be promising as a cheap and effective agent to control mosquito numbers.</p><p>Importantly, it appears effective against mosquito species that have developed resistance to other control chemicals.</p><p>&quot;It kills insecticide-resistant mosquitoes. There are a few insecticides that have been used in the field for decades [but] there are resistant [mosquito] lines in the community,&quot; said Alvaro Acosta-Serrano, the joint supervisor of the study, based at Notre Dame University, US.</p><p>&quot;We tested those resistant lines with nitisinone and they are almost as equally susceptible as the susceptible lines of mosquitoes. It brings a lot of benefits, not only to mention that it performs better than ivermectin.&quot;</p><p>Anna Last, an associate professor in infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who wasn&#x27;t involved in the study, said the findings were promising, particularly given results from recent field tests of ivermectin in vulnerable communities in Africa.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s a very relevant piece of work, I think, and does follow on from the slightly disappointing results from the majority of field trials looking at ivermectin, which showed that it didn&#x27;t perform in the way that we had anticipated and hoped, in the field,&quot; Last told DW.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2025/1/8/mosquitoes-with-toxic-semen-could-stem-disease-spread-research-0845">Mosquitoes with &#x27;toxic&#x27; semen could stem disease spread: research</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>What methods are there to reduce mosquito-borne diseases?</strong></div><p>The most recent World Health Organization data estimated that 263 million people were infected with the malaria parasite in 2023, resulting in 597,000 deaths.</p><p>But there are several medical and technological tools for fighting mosquito-borne diseases like malaria.</p><p>Medical and social interventions are believed to have prevented 2.2 billion cases and 12.7 million deaths since 2000.</p><p>The RTS,S vaccine, marketed as Mosquirix, for example, is 30% effective at preventing severe cases and requires four doses. Other vaccines are also in development.</p><p>Mosquito nets treated with insecticides are also important tools. They are widely distributed across communities by various non-governmental organizations and health bodies.</p><p>Like the vaccine, nets are about &quot;30% effective&quot;, according to Estrella Lasry, a senior malaria adviser at the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.</p><p>&quot;We try to cover as high a number as possible of the [malaria vulnerable] populations,&quot; Lasry said.</p><p>But as well as insecticide use on nets and in the environment, insect control remains an important measure for groups trying to control the disease. This includes larval control — killing off mosquito hatchlings before they mature.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2025/2/22/myth-buster-think-you-know-everything-about-dengue-1831">Myth buster: Think you know everything about dengue?</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Can malaria be eradicated?</strong></div><p>Malaria has already been eliminated from several countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.</p><p>However there is a risk that measures to contain the virus where it persists may stall if groups are unable to deliver services.</p><p>Recent reports have suggested the Trump administration may cut funding for health initiatives like malaria as part of a broader culling of programs supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).</p><p>There are also concerns of wider US cuts to medical research at home and abroad.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s a really important issue at the moment. I think it will be devastating for health systems and programs, certainly across sub-Saharan Africa,&quot; Last said.</p><p>&quot;But it will likely be wider reaching than that, I think, in the context of development of new molecules such as nitisinone.</p><p>&quot;There will have to be a lot of focus on maintaining and sustaining existing excellent tools that we have that have really made huge gains in the last decade or more.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/09/08/22/new-malaria-vaccine-results-raise-hopes-of-mass-rollout">New malaria vaccine results raise hopes of mass rollout</a></div><div><em>Edited by: Fred Schwaller<br/></em></div><div><em>Source:<br/></em></div><div><em>Anopheles mosquito survival and pharmacokinetic modeling show the mosquitocidal activity of nitisinone</em></div><div><em><br/></em></div><div><br/></div><div><iframe width="1250" height="703" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-lgg04a1F7o" title="Money for mosquitoes as anti-dengue measure | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>A new drug that makes human blood poisonous to mosquitoes could be a vital new tool to fight malaria. The drug, called nitisinone, kills mosquitoes but is not toxic to humans.</p>

A new drug that makes human blood poisonous to mosquitoes could be a vital new tool to fight malaria. The drug, called nitisinone, kills mosquitoes but is not toxic to humans.

A new drug makes your blood toxic to mosquitoes

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A new drug makes your blood toxic to mosquitoes

Deutsche Welle

Published Mar 31, 2025 10:07 AM PHT

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