In order to fight the disease transmitted by vectors, two are the main approaches:
the use of curative drugs in infected patients and the use of insecticide to control the vector population.
The disadvantages of curative drugs are:
- The Impossible prevention due to the lack of effective vaccine.
- The fact that, used drugs are expensive and in the last years, the parasites have developed resistances against the commonly used medicaments
- The anti-malaria drugs targeting eukaryotic microorganisms, provoke different side effects in the patients.
Presently, the insecticides represent the only prevention method. The absence of vaccines makes the use of insecticides the unique effective tool to prevent these diseases, blocking the transmission of the etiological agents.
The limits of the insecticides are:
- The development of resistant mechanisms in insects preclude their effectiveness and therefore, after a certain period, they become useless.
- The need of developing new molecules demands huge investments and high production cost.
- The chemical compounds used are toxic and dangerous for public health.
Resistance to at least one insecticide was identified in 64 countries, in particular against pyrethroids. The main concerns are for the sub-Saharian and Indian countries, where there is the highest resistance combination in some areas against all the insecticide classes and high level of malaria transmission. For instance, the modern insecticide coverage in Africa prevents the death of about 22 thousand children under 5 years of age every year. If pyrethroids lose their efficacy, there would be a decrease of more than 55% of its benefits.
In this regard, the advantages of our biocide are both preventive i.e. blocking the insect reproductive cycle causing therefore, the reduction of vector population (one mosquito is able to produce up to 200 eggs after each blood meal) and financially advantageous because the biocide is not toxic and since it is based on a natural molecule, crucial for the insect physiology, it cannot undergo through resistance phenomena.