Quiti-Kill boosts fight vs dengue

MANILA, Philippines - With the expected increase in the number of dengue cases this rainy season, a Filipino biotechnology company suggests that the best way to combat the mosquito-borne disease is to annihilate mosquito larvae instead of attacking adult mosquitoes.

Carlo Ynion, vice president of Yngentech, said the most effective way to fight dengue is to “annihilate mosquito larvae before they turn into tiny angels of death.”

“A single larvae can produce some 92 million mosquitoes in just 60 days,” he said.

Yngentech is the exclusive distributor of biolarvicide Quiti-Kill in the country. The product is owned by Entogenex company, which is headed by Malaysian Prince Tunku Naquiyuddin ibni Tuanku Ja’afar.

Quiti-Kill is an organic and non-toxic product that kills mosquito larvae. It is available in soluble powder and rice husk granules formulations.

The powder formulation is dissolved in water and sprayed over the breeding places of mosquitoes. The rice husk granules, on the other hand, are applied directly to areas where there is potential pooling of water and breeding sites of mosquitoes. It serves as the carrier and floating device for the active ingredients.

“Quiti-Kill kills mosquito larvae instead of adult mosquitoes. Larvicide treatment of breeding habitats, versus the use of adulticides, is now gaining more popularity as the safest and most cost-effective method to reduce the adult mosquito population,” Ynion claimed.

“Our fate has been decided by these small animals. It’s about time we change the way we deal with them. It is only wise to attack them while they are still easy to stop and defenseless,” he added.

Ynion also said that aside from dengue, other mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and chikungunya would be eliminated through larvicide treatment.

In previous years, the Department of Health has recorded outbreaks of dengue cases not only during the rainy season but during the dry season as well. Now, the DOH investigates chikungunya as a potential re-emerging mosquito-borne disease, and some areas in the country are considered endemic for malaria.

“A paradigm shift is happening right now. Our leaders are realizing that the fight against dengue is more effective when you attack mosquito larvae,” Ynion said.