JAKARTA — Dengue fever infections dropped dramatically in an Indonesian study where a bacteria was introduced into disease-carrying mosquitoes, offering hope in the battle against an illness that sickens millions annually around the world.
Results of the three-year study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week, found that infecting dengue-carrying mosquitoes with a harmless bacteria called Wolbachia led to a 77-percent drop in human cases.
Infections requiring hospitalization also fell by 86 percent in Wolbachia-treated areas of Yogyakarta, a city on Java Island where the experiment was conducted, researchers said.
The study was conducted by the World Mosqu…
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