Prof. Anom Bowolaksono, Professor of FMIPA UI: Wolbachia Does Not Infect Humans, Has Been Done in Australia and Singapore

Information that has been circulating recently, but has not been confirmed regarding efforts to overcome dengue, has caused anxiety for some people. The trigger was the steps taken by the government to suppress the spread of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DBD) in Indonesia, by distributing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that have Wolbachia bacteria nationally.

Controversy has emerged in the community, and there has even been rejection in several places. This rejection occurred for various reasons, including being considered part of a research project, making mosquitoes more aggressive, and even causing other diseases, such as encephalitis. Responding to the information circulating, Professor of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) University of Indonesia (UI) Prof. Anom Bowolaksono, Ph.D., explained that Wolbachia bacteria do not infect humans and are natural bacteria found in the bodies of insects, including mosquitoes. In addition, several countries such as Australia and Singapore have also implemented this innovation and have been effective in suppressing the rate of dengue fever cases.

"The problem for humans is how to reduce the number of dengue fever sufferers. Until now, there is still no cure for dengue fever, so one alternative is to break the vector chain by suppressing the population of mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus. Because, for an outbreak or disease to occur, it must be seen from the number of vectors and the number of sufferers. If the number of vectors decreases, the disease will not be transmitted properly and will result in a decrease in the rate of spread," said Prof. Anom.

Furthermore, Prof. Anom said that in research, Wolbachia bacteria are able to reduce the capacity of mosquitoes by targeting the reproductive tissue. If Wolbachia bacteria are in male animals, it will make the male mosquitoes more feminine and unable to produce spermatozoa. Likewise in female animals, Wolbachia will attack the reproductive tissue and cause female mosquitoes to be unable to lay eggs. Later, mosquitoes will not develop and will not be able to transmit the dengue virus to humans who are bitten.

Meanwhile, Prof. Anom also explained that mosquitoes that have Wolbachia bacteria have nothing to do with Japanese encephalitis, as has recently been widely discussed on social media. He said, "Japanese encephalitis is indeed spread by mosquitoes. However, the mosquitoes that spread it or act as vectors are Culex mosquitoes. Meanwhile, the ones infected with Wolbachia bacteria in our country are Aedes aegypti mosquitoes."

This has also been emphasized by the Director General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenkes RI) Maxi Rein Rondonuwu that the spread of Wolbachia mosquitoes is guaranteed to be safe. This innovation has also gone through a study and risk analysis involving top researchers in Indonesia. He also said that in its implementation, regular monitoring and evaluation are still needed. So, we can continue to monitor and know the development of the spread of Wolbachia mosquitoes.

In the Working Meeting of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives, the Indonesian Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said that there are five cities planned by the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) in the distribution of Wolbachia mosquitoes, namely West Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Bontang, and Kupang. This area is the target of the trial based on the relatively high rate of dengue cases, which is above the global average of 10 per 100,000 population.

News source : https://sci.ui.ac.id/