Prof. Anom Bowolaksono, Professor of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), University of Indonesia (UI), explained that Wolbachia bacteria do not infect humans and are natural bacteria found in the bodies of insects, including mosquitoes.
Reporting from Between, Apart from that, he said, several countries, such as Australia and Singapore, have also implemented this innovation and have succeeded in effectively reducing the rate of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) 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. “Therefore, one alternative is to break the vector chain by suppressing the population of mosquitoes that carry the Dengue virus,” he said.
Because for an outbreak or disease to occur, according to him, 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 as well and this will lead to a decrease in the spread rate.
Prof. Anom further said that research shows that Wolbachia bacteria are able to reduce the capacity of mosquitoes by targeting reproductive tissue.
If the Wolbachia bacteria is in a male animal, it will make the male mosquito more feminine and unable to produce spermatozoa. Likewise in female animals, Wolbachia will attack reproductive tissue and cause female mosquitoes to be unable to lay eggs
Later, mosquitoes become immature and unable to transmit the Dengue virus to humans who are bitten.
Prof. Anom explained that mosquitoes that carry the Wolbachia bacteria have nothing to do with inflammatory brain disease or Japanese encephalitis, as has recently become a topic of much discussion on social media.
He said that the brain inflammation disease Japanese encephalitis is spread by mosquitoes. However, the mosquito that spreads it or is the vector is the Culex mosquito. Meanwhile, what is infected with the Wolbachia bacteria in Indonesia is the Aedes aegypti mosquito. (ant/ath/ipg)
2023-12-02 04:26:43
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