Mosquitos are no doubt pests, but did you know they’re also the creatures responsible for the most deaths worldwide? That’s because they spread infectious diseases like malaria, Zika and West Nile virus. And now experts say a big part of their lethality might have to do with the ability to suppress our immune systems.
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00:00Mosquitoes are no doubt pests, but did you know they're also the creatures responsible
00:07for the most deaths worldwide?
00:09That's because they spread infectious diseases like malaria, Zika, and West Nile virus.
00:14And now experts say a big part of their lethality might have to do with the ability to suppress
00:19our immune systems.
00:21During three differentiated analyses, researchers found the mosquitoes that were carrying the
00:25dengue virus also carried with them a viral RNA.
00:28It's essentially a chemical messenger that prevents the human body from fighting the
00:32infection.
00:33Tanya Strelitz, a biochemist, had this to say about the findings.
00:36It's incredible that the virus can hijack these molecules so that their co-delivery
00:40at the mosquito bite site gives it an advantage in establishing an infection.
00:44But she adds that discovering this could also help us fight the virus at the source of the
00:48infection.
00:49Especially considering these types of RNA messengers have been seen before.
00:53They believe the RNA prepares the veterinary to take on the viral load, leading to some
00:57400 million people being infected every year.
01:00There's currently no treatment for the dengue virus, which kills around 21,000 people annually.
01:04Meaning developing something to prevent, or at least inhibit infection, could save hundreds
01:09of thousands of lives.