THE NEW WAY TO FIGHT ZIKA VIRUS

Experts say, the best modes of prevention are to intensify use of the older methods of mosquito control and to lower the risk of being bitten using repellents and by wearing long sleeves.



Women are being advised to not get pregnant and to avoid infested areas if pregnant, since the virus is strongly suspected of causing babies to be born with abnormally small heads and damaged brains.



One old method that is not getting serious attention would be to use DDT, a powerful pesticide that is banned in many countries because of the ecological damage documented in the 1962 book "Silent Spring." Still, it is being mentioned a bit, and some experts defend its use for disease control.

"That concern about DDT has to be reconsidered in the public health context," said Dr. Lyle R. Petersen, director of the division of vector-borne diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said the damage to fish and wildlife stemmed from widespread outdoor use of DDT in agriculture, not the use of small amounts on walls inside homes to kill mosquitoes.

Other experts say the old methods can work if applied diligently.

"We've had great success using old methods for the last 50, 60 years," said Dr. Peter J. Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine. "We just need to be very aggressive and exercise political will."



A determined American doctor named Fred L. Soper eradicated a malaria-carrying mosquito in Brazil in the 1930s, even before the widespread use of DDT. And dengue-carrying mosquitoes were eradicated in 18 Latin American countries from 1947 to 1962, Dr. Hotez said.

But Dr. Soper was a fanatic, making sure every house was thoroughly inspected and all standing water removed. In Brazil, he was backed by the government, which made it a crime to deny entry to an inspector. According to a profile of him in The New Yorke, Dr. Soper used to say that mosquito eradication was impossible in a democracy.

Such an autocratic approach might not be feasible in today's societies. Moreover, Latin American cities have grown tremendously since then, said Carlos Brisola Marcondes, a medical entomologist at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil. Source: The Time Of India.