Study Finds Link Between Spread of Dengue and Reduced COVID-19 Transmission
A new study focuses on the COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil and its association with the dengue fever outbreaks, suggesting that exposure to mosquito-transmitted diseases may offer some level of immunity from COVID-19.
In a report by Reuters, it was indicated that the said work which has not yet been published, is led by Duke University professor, Miguel Nicolelis
Additionally, the researchers compared the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases with the spread of dengue from 2019 to 2020.
Places that have COVID-19 infection rates and slower growth of cases were areas that had suffered severe dengue outbreaks this year or in 2019.
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Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are pictured at the National Environmental Agency's mosquito production facility in Singapore.
'Immunological Protection' from COVID-19
This remarkable study result, Nicolelis said, "raises the intriguing possibility of an immunological cross-reactivity" between the Flavivirus serotypes of dengue and SARS-CoV-2.
If the hypothesis is proven correct, it could mean that infection from dengue or immunization with an efficacious and safe dengue for vaccine could yield some level of immunological protection from COVID-19.
The study leader also told Reuters that the findings are specifically interesting since previous studies have shown that people who have dengue antibodies in their blood can have false-positive results for COVID-19 antibodies even if the virus has never infected them.
This indicates that there is an immunological interaction between the two viruses that no one could have anticipated since they are both from totally different families. He, however, said that more research is needed to further prove the link.
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Study Highlights
This study was published prior to its MedRxiv preprint server review, and will be submitted to a scientific journal.
The study specifically highlights a substantial association between lower occurrence of deaths due to the pandemic and growth rate in populaces in Brazil, where antibody levels against dengue were higher.
As of this writing, Brazil has been reported to have the third highest total of COVID-19 infections with over 4.4 million confirmed cases just in the United States and India.
In other states like Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais and Parana, where there were high occurrences of dengue in 2019, COVID-19 took quite a while to reach a level of high community transmission than other states like Amapa, Para and Maranhao with lesser cases of dengue.
Similar Link between Dengue Outbreaks and COVID-19 Transmission
The researchers discovered a similar link between dengue outbreaks and slower COVID-19 transmission in other Latin American nations, as well as the Indian Oceans, the Pacific Islands and Asia.
Nicolelis and his research team also came across the discovery of dengue by accident while they were working on a study on how COVID-19 had been transmitted throughout Brazil where they discovered that highways played a vital role in the cases' spread across the nation.
After they identified some COVID-19-free spots on the map, the team of scientists went to look for probable explanations.
A breakthrough took place when the team made a comparison between the spread of dengue and that of the COVID-19 transmission.
"It was a shock," Nicolelis told Reuters adding, "in science, that happens," while talking about when a scientist is shooting or aiming at one object, and he hits a target that he never imagined he would hit.
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Check out more news and information on the COVID-19 and Dengue on MD News Daily.
Sep 21, 2020 11:05 PM EDT
