As the rainy season approaches, the risk of mosquito-borne diseases increases manifold. Among these, most cases of dengue, malaria, chikungunya and zika virus have been reported. The symptoms of each mosquito bite may vary. In such a situation it takes time to identify which mosquito has bitten. But now scientists hope to find a solution to this problem soon. Dr. Soumya Acharya and her team of bioengineers at Johns Hopkins University, USA have developed an app in collaboration with Uganda's Macri University and the Gates Foundation. The name of this app is Vectorcam. With the help of this app, one can easily know which species the mosquito is and which disease virus it is spreading. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has also praised this app. The app is currently being tested in Uganda, a country located in East-Central Africa. So, today in work news we will talk about what is vectorcam? You may also want to know- Q- How many people die every year due to mosquitoes all over the world? Ans- Though mosquito is a very small insect to see, but it is considered to be the most dangerous for humans as more than 10 diseases can be spread by mosquito bites. In which the cases of malaria and dengue are most common. See the graphic below to see how many people die each year due to malaria and dengue. Q- What role will the Vector Chem app play in detection and prevention of mosquito-borne diseases? How will this work? Ans- VectorCam app scans photos of mosquitoes. With the help of this you can also identify the species of mosquitoes. Like what kind of infectious diseases mosquitoes spread like dengue, zika, malaria. It can significantly speed up the prevention and treatment process. Apart from this, it has other advantages too. This can be understood in the graphic below. Q- How will the vector cam app benefit the general public? Answer- Currently this app is designed for use by doctors and healthcare professionals only. With the help of this app, they can immediately detect the mosquito-borne disease and take necessary measures. But it will also be very useful for common people like us. In this way, it can be understood that if the people sitting in the first aid center of a small village or town can immediately detect the disease spreading mosquito with the help of the app, it will be easy to treat it immediately and take measures related to it. It is also possible that this app may also be available to the general public through the Play Store. In such a situation, we will be able to scan the mosquitoes breeding in or around our homes and know whether they are normal mosquitoes or dangerous mosquitoes that spread disease. Q- Is this the first app of its kind? Answer- No. Even before this, a team of scientists from Oxford University's Department of Engineering Sciences developed an app called Humbug, which can detect mosquitoes from a distance of about 10 cm. This app can detect the species of mosquitoes by listening to the sound of their wings. However, it is still in its early stages. This app can only identify malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The developers are working on expanding its database, so that other species of mosquitoes can also be identified. Q- What is the difference between a normal mosquito and a virus-carrying mosquito? Can the common man himself recognize it? Ans- Dengue and Malaria are two serious mosquito borne diseases in India. Every year thousands of people lose their lives due to this. The mosquitoes that spread these two diseases are different. See the graphic below to see the difference between these two mosquitoes and how to identify them. Question- How can we protect ourselves from mosquito attacks? Answer- Below are some measures, by adopting which you can protect yourself.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
App will tell which mosquito is dangerous: How to identify common mosquito and dengue mosquito with naked eye, what is the difference between them?
