SCI trans Med: skin lotion can prevent mosquito borne diseases

January 24, 2020 / Biovalley / a new study from the University of Leeds shows that a skin cream used to treat warts and skin cancer can help people prevent viral diseases such as Zika virus and dengue fever Their findings identify a new way to prevent multiple dangerous virus infections With the development of climate change and the increasingly close relationship between different parts of the world, the risk of potentially fatal mosquito borne diseases has increased dramatically, but there is no effective treatment In response, scientists studied four types of mosquito borne viruses and found that applying skin cream within an hour of mosquito bites could significantly reduce the infection rate in the model (image source: www Pixabay Com) they used two different models to understand the effect of skin cream: human skin samples and mice In both cases, the use of skin cream can cause rapid activation of skin immune response, thus resisting any potential virus threat This prevents the virus from spreading around the body and causing disease The cream, called imiquimod, is commonly used to treat genital warts and certain forms of skin cancer Further testing is needed before entering clinical use, the researchers said Their research is published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine Dr Clive mckimi, lead author of the University of Leeds School of medicine, said: "this study shows that a clinically recognized, widely used skin cream could be reused as a valuable drug against insect borne diseases It is particularly encouraging that the cream is effective against a variety of different viruses If this strategy can be developed as a treatment, we may be able to use it to solve various emerging diseases that have not yet been encountered Information source: mosquito borne diseases could be prevented by skin cream original source: S.R Bryden El Al., "Pan virtual protection against arboviruses by activating skin phases at the inoculation site," Science Translational Medicine (2020) Https://stm.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.aax2421