Scientists fight dengue fever - 21st June 2021

Dengue fever is a dangerous illness. It makes people sick. Millions of people get dengue fever every year.

Scientists want to stop dengue fever. They tried a new idea in Yogyakarta in Indonesia. They say that their idea worked. Now, there isn't much dengue fever in Yogyakarta.

The scientists worked with mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are small insects. Dengue fever lives in mosquitoes. People get dengue fever from mosquitoes.

The scientists changed the mosquitoes. They put a special bacteria in the mosquitoes. Then, the mosquitoes don't give dengue fever to so many people.

The scientists are happy. They stopped dengue fever in Yogyakarta. They want to stop dengue fever in other places too.

Mosquitoes don't just give people dengue fever. People get malaria and the Zika virus from mosquitoes. Mosquitoes give people yellow fever too.

Scientists hope their idea can help with these other diseases too.