A mosquito increasingly adapted to the environment, misdirected control systems and lack of awareness of the population. These are the arguments used by José Bento Pereira Lima, a researcher of the Laboratory of Physiology and Control of Arthropod Vectors of Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC / Fiocruz), to show that the elimination of dengue mosquito is increasingly difficult. However, he believes that it is possible to control it. In this interview, the researcher presents and evaluates the effectiveness of some projects for the control of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits the virus.

José Bento is a biologist, with a Masters in Molecular and Cell Biology and a PhD in Parasitic Biology. Since 1975 he has been working in the area of ​​Entomology and studying not only dengue mosquitoes, but also malaria mosquitoes and other diseases. He began working in the Amazon rainforest and from there went to several places: Belém, Brasília and finally Rio de Janeiro.

Does the decrease in the number of cases in 2014 show that the dengue situation is under control?

If we follow a historical series, we can see that there is an oscillation. Whenever there is the creation of a new serotype, the number of cases increases. To the extent that people are immunized with this type of virus, there is a decrease. If we pay attention when walking in the city, mosquitoes still can be seen. However, there is a better control.

How does the control of dengue work in Brazil today?

In the system adopted by the National Dengue Control Program, the agent inspects the homes every two months. The problem is that the mosquito takes seven to ten days to complete one cycle. In other words, it is completely disproportionate. To work well, we would have to be inspecting the homes every week. And it is impossible to do that. So, the "10 minutes against dengue" may fill this gap.

What does the project "10 minutes against dengue" consist of?

It consists of encouraging citizens to use 10 minutes a week to check for mosquito outbreaks or accumulation of water in deposits such as open water containers, plant saucers, among others. The tips and instructions are given through the project website [www.ioc.fiocruz.br/dengue]. Despite the progress made, a newly survey conducted in Manaus for a master's thesis showed that the acceptance of this project is not satisfactory. It was very clear that people still think the dengue control is the responsibility of government. However, if all participate, it would be much easier to control the mosquito.

In this scenario, do you think it is possible to definitely eliminate the dengue mosquito?

Today it is very difficult. The mosquito is well adapted and will seek new ways to survive. But I think we can control it in order not to have a sufficient amount of mosquitoes to cause a major epidemic. Directing efforts is the only way to improve the control, particularly in periods of low infestation, when there is a large number of breeding sites, such as in winter.

There is a project that focuses on the distribution of traps for monitoring. How does it work?

A new project, which is being developed on the island of Paqueta, Rio de Janeiro, consists of placing traps to collect mosquito eggs to monitor where they really are. Thus, it is possible to focus the efforts of the agents on these regions. Mosquitoes are not distributed evenly. They are concentrated in points. If we focus on these points, we will have more chance to eliminate them. Furthermore, the project will promote an awareness campaign with the local population, especially children.

And what about the mosquito production project for research?

The work aims to transform the laboratory in a vector production platform, which will be provided to other IOC laboratories and other institutions in Brazil and neighboring countries. The project began in 2002 and currently an average of 600 thousand samples is provided per year. Mosquitoes are used for various researches, such as interaction studies, evaluation of products with insecticidal effect, genes or enzymes that could prevent the mosquito from transmitting the disease, vaccine production for allergy to mosquito bites, among others. In addition, we maintain our line of insecticide resistance evaluation by means of biological and molecular assays.

What is the importance of Fiotec in supporting projects?

Fiotec reduces the researcher's work, as it acquires equipment and supplies, accounts for the work, considering that the funding agencies are increasingly more demanding. It is hard to take a project and deal with all the paperwork. That is why Fiotec is important. I have nothing to complain about the service provided. It is a good partnership.