Jakarta –
The Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) plans to use Wolbachia technology in five cities in Indonesia, namely West Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Bontang and Kupang. The wolbachia technology in question is the spread of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria to suppress dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in Indonesia.
As is known, dengue fever is still a serious public health problem in Indonesia. The government has even made various efforts since 1970, starting from fogging and so on. However, these efforts have not been able to completely control dengue fever in Indonesia.
Therefore, it is hoped that the presence of this Wolbachia technological innovation can help complement government program efforts to reduce the spread of dengue fever.
The Wolbachia technological innovation carried out by the government also did not just appear and be implemented immediately. This technology requires prior research and has been carried out in Indonesia since 2011. The first phase of testing was carried out to prove the safety and feasibility of the Wolbachia technology.
After safety and feasibility were proven, the research continued in the second phase with small-scale mosquito releases, namely in two hamlets in Sleman and two hamlets in Bantul, Special Region of Yogyakarta. The release of mosquitoes was also not carried out immediately and immediately distributed. But it is done with ethical approval from local residents.
After that, the third phase of testing was carried out in 2016 with Wolbachia mosquitoes on a large scale in the city of Yogyakarta. Before proof is carried out on the impact of technology, a risk analysis is carried out first by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education (Kemenristek and Dikti). This security-related testing was carried out independently by at least 20 experts from various fields formed by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education.
“With the results that in general the risk is negligible, we dare to carry out the next stage of the study, namely large-scale release. This large-scale is in the city of Yogyakarta,” said the Wolbachia and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever Bacteria Researcher from the Department of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Public Health Medicine. and nursing at Gadjah Mada University (FKKMK UGM), Prof Dr Adi Utarini, M Sc, MPH, PhD, Monday (20/11).
Implementation in Yogyakarta City and Citizen Testimonials
The presence of this technology as a complement is said to be able to significantly reduce dengue fever cases in the city of Yogyakarta. From 1,700 dengue fever cases in 2016-2017, now in 2023, it has dropped to 67 cases. This was conveyed directly by the Yogyakarta City Health Service. This significant decrease in cases can also put pressure on the budget for controlling dengue fever, such as fogging. According to Dr. Lana, in 2016 fogging in the Yogyakarta area had to be carried out more than 200 times, and in 2017 50 times. Meanwhile, in 2023 until last week, it only required fogging nine times.
“But this year (2023) until last week, we only carried out fogging nine times,” explained Dr. Lana Unwanah, Head of the Prevention and Control Division and Data Management and Health Information Systems at the Yogyakarta City Health Service, Wednesday (22/11).
Not only that, the presence of this program was also welcomed by community leaders in Cokrodiningratan Village, Yogyakarta City, Totok Pratopo. According to Totok, the condition of the spread of dengue fever in the village could initially be said to be worrying. New cases always appear towards the end of the year, even resulting in deaths.
“Every year before the rainy season there are always cases of dengue fever. During that period 2 children died, then in 2017 one child died aged 8 years,” he added, Wednesday (22/11).
“Villages on the edge of Kali Code actually have high potential because the level of cleanliness is lower and there are lots of puddles,” he added.
Initially, Totok admitted that the presence of this technology made many residents confused. The reason is, so far what has been taught to eradicate mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus, the cause of dengue fever is implementing 3M (Drain, Cover, Bury) Plus and other efforts in the community.
“The technology is suddenly spreading new mosquitoes. Then I asked, I want a guarantee if the mosquitoes are released and some of our people are infected with dengue fever, is there any guarantee or compensation from this team?” he said.
“And at that time I apologized that there was no satisfactory answer. And it was said that this research was just underway,” he added.
According to Totok, this technology is difficult for ordinary people to understand. This is what might make some people doubt the effectiveness of the program being implemented. However, after being explained and convinced by this research, the man who also served as Chair of the Pamerti Code Community helped the researchers convince the public.
Wolbachia Controversy on Social Media
Even though this technology is claimed to be able to reduce dengue fever cases in Indonesia and research has been carried out since 2011, quite a few people are also afraid of the impact on their health. There are even some parties who claim that this Wolbachia technology was created using genetic engineering, thereby triggering the brain inflammation disease Japanese Encephalitis.
However, these claims circulating in society have been denied by Wolbachia technology researchers and the government.
“We firmly say that this technology is not genetic engineering and this is also confirmed by the US CDC (US Center for Disease Control and Prevention) statement, then in Australia,” said Prof. Utarini in a media briefing, Monday (20/11).
“Japanese Encephalitis is a different mosquito, namely Culex and the disease is also different. It has nothing to do with Wolbachia technology,” he continued.
Prof. Utarini or familiarly called Uut said that the Wolbachia bacteria in the Aedes aegypti mosquito cannot be transferred to humans. He also said that the bacteria will immediately die when they leave the body cells of insects, such as mosquitoes, so they are safe for humans, animals and the environment.
“This has been proven and our own team is feeding mosquitoes with Wolbachia and we are also checking communities whose areas have been infested with Wolbachia mosquitoes for almost 10 years. Wolbachia cannot enter the body,” he concluded.
Question Mark about Long-Term Impact
Even though Wolbachia technology is claimed to be safe, a study published in The Lancet entitled ‘The double-edged sword effect of expanding Wolbachia deployment in dengue endemic settings’, which also examined Wolbachia mosquitoes to suppress a number of diseases including dengue fever, revealed different things.
In this study, it is said that the Aedes aegypti mosquito population is heterogeneous and the national release of Wolbachia strains whose genetic backcrossing is in certain locations, will result in unexpected homogenization of the vector population.
Homogenization of aedes aegypti on a broad geographic scale may have undesirable consequences in the long term by driving the genetic transfer of traits such as higher vector competence, lower susceptibility to repellents and insecticides, or greater host-seeking and biting behavior. often.
Available data indicate that ensuring adherence to local characteristics, in particular genetic compatibility between native and released mosquitoes, is critical to increasing the likelihood of more rapid introgression in the field, thereby realizing cost and time savings worldwide.
There may be a multitude of undiscovered traits besides insecticide resistance that may influence local adaptation of the vector, and will influence the success of released wolbachia strains. Therefore, ignoring genetic diversity in favor of concentrating on rearing mosquitoes with wolbachia for national reintroduction may result in disadvantages for future mosquito reintroductions.
Long-term studies of the impact of releasing mosquitoes with homogeneous genotypes in diverse ecological and epidemiological scenarios remain an important research priority, including for decision making and sustainable management of mosquito-borne diseases.
NEXT: Wolbachia technology is not a single strategy
(suc/up)
2023-11-23 23:50:18
#Controlling #dengue #fever #Wolbachia #mosquitoes #agree #Lets #Poll