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 Wolbachia is a common bacteria that occurs naturally in 60% of
insect species, including some mosquitoes, fruit flies, moths,
dragonflies and butterflies. It is not, however, found in
dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, according to non-profit
World Mosquito Program (WMP), which initiated the research.
"In principle we are breeding the 'good' mosquitoes," said Purwanti,
a WMP community cadre. "The mosquitoes carrying dengue will mate
with mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia, which will produce Wolbachia
mosquitoes - the 'good' mosquitoes. So even if they bite people, it
won't affect them".
Since 2017, a joint study conducted by WMP at Australia's Monash
University and Indonesia's Gadjah Mada University has been releasing
lab-bred Wolbachia mosquitoes across a few dengue fever 'red zones'
in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta.
The trial results, published by the New England Journal of Medicine
in June, showed that deploying mosquitoes with Wolbachia reduced
dengue cases by as much as 77% and hospitalisations by up to 86%.
"We're confident in this technology, particularly for areas where
the Aedes aegypti mosquito is the most responsible (infection)
factor," WMP lead researcher Adi Utarini, who has been working on
Indonesia's Eliminate Dengue Program since 2011, told Reuters.
[to top of second column] |
 According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), global dengue infections
have risen rapidly in recent decades, with about
half of the world's population now at risk. An
estimated 100-400 million infections are
reported every year.
"All three of my children have been infected
with dengue and hospitalised ... It's always on
my mind, thinking about how to keep my village
healthy and clean," said 62-year-old Sri
Purwaningsih, whose family volunteered for the
WMP programme.
(This story corrects paragraph 3 to show that
Purwanti is a WMP community cadre, not a
researcher)
(Reporting by Budi Satriawan; Writing by James
Pearson; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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