My point: Vertical dengue spread?

SINGAPORE - In its reply ("NEA: Multi-agency task force tackles outdoor mosquito breeding sites"; May 13), the National Environment Agency said "transmission of dengue virus from an infected mosquito to its offspring is negligible and has not been demonstrated to be of epidemiological significance in tropical climates".

But a research paper published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research in 2008 showed that vertical transmission of dengue was mainly observed when infections in humans were low, suggesting that dengue viruses adopt a novel strategy of surviving adverse climatic conditions.

Have local studies been conducted on this? Will the dengue control strategy depend on the mode of transmission?

Ong Yoke Fei

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