登革熱之病媒防治策略

Vector Control Strategies for Dengue Fever

登革熱為全世界最重要的節肢動物傳染疾病之一，WHO估計全世界超過兩億人口暴露在感染登革熱的危險之下。而台灣這兩年也爆發大規模的登革熱風染，根據衛福部疾管署統計，2014年全台有超過15,000例的登革熱病例，2015年的疫情也相當嚴峻，至2015年10月為止全台已超過2萬例登革熱病例，為近30年來最嚴重的疫情。雖然近年來我國也投入相當大的人力及經費，針對登革病毒的分子致病機制、宿主免疫反應等相關議題進行研究，但是這些研究對於疫情的控制似乎無法提供即時的幫助。主要的原因是現在缺乏有效治療登革熱的藥物與疫苗，而事實上，控制病媒蚊族群數量乃是控制登革熱最重要且最有效、直接的方式。因此，積極的尋找有效控制病媒的策略乃是當務之急，近年來，國際上許多研究團隊開始針對病媒蚊的控制，嘗試不同的防治策略，這些新穎的研究成果可以做為我們防疫工作的參考。

Dengue fever is one of the most important arthropod-borne diseases in the world. The WHO estimated that more than 200 million people are at risk to dengue infection annually. Recently, Taiwan experienced the largest dengue virus outbreak since formal records were kept starting in 1980s. According to Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control, there were 15,732 reported dengue virus infections, including 19 deaths in 2014. However, another largest dengue outbreak in 2015 in Taiwan was noted. There were 24,192 reported dengue virus infections, including 90 deaths till now. Although a huge amount of budget were granted for the investigations of pathogenic mechanism of dengue virus and host-virus interactions, these studies seem to be unable to directly benefit the local dengue control. Up to now, no effective dengue vaccine or drug has been developed. In fact, vector control is the most effective and direct way to control dengue infection. Therefore, any possible avenue for developing novel control strategies against mosquito-borne diseases is urgently needed. Recently, several international research groups intended to develop different novel and effective vector control strategies, where we should take the advantage for our local dengue control.