Jakarta –
The Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has spread Wolbachia mosquitoes in five Indonesian cities, starting from West Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Bontang and Kupang. The Wolbachia mosquito is the Aedes aegypti mosquito which is infected with Wolbachia bacteria to control the transmission of the dengue virus which causes dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
Not a few people are curious about the effects of Wolbachia mosquito bites on non-Wolbachia or normal mosquitoes. So, is it different?
Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Gadjah Mada University (FKKMK-UGM), Dr Riris Andono Ahmad, BMedSc, MPH, PhD, said there is no need to worry about mosquito bites carrying Wolbachia. Because, there is no difference between mosquitoes with wolbachia and mosquitoes without the bacteria, so the impact of the bite will be the same.
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“Nothing has changed about the mosquito. The mosquito has not become a bionic mosquito, a transgenic mosquito. What happens is a kind of mechanical blocking so that in the end the impact of a mosquito bite is the same,” he explained in a discussion held online, Monday (20/11/ 2023).
Dr Riris said that the itching effect caused by the bite of a Wolbachia mosquito is still the same as that of the Aedes aegypti mosquito in general. The difference is, he no longer transmits the dengue virus that causes DHF.
Not only that, Dr Riris also explained that Wolbachia bacteria can only live in insect body cells. If the bacteria leave the insect’s body cells, it will die.
“For example, mosquito bites are in saliva, saliva is not cells, so it cannot be in the mosquito’s saliva. It may be in the cells of the salivary glands, but the bacteria cannot come out of the cells,” he said again.
Similarly, a researcher on Wolbachia Bacteria and Dengue Fever from the Department of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Gadjah Mada University, Prof. DR Adi Utarini, M Sc, MPH, PhD, also said that the side effects given were not the effect of the Wolbachia bacteria, but rather from the Wolbachia bacteria. mosquito bites.
“And this varies from one person to another. Some people have bumps and some don’t,” he said again.
Watch the video “How the Wolbachia Mosquito Works to Reduce Dengue Cases”
[Gambas:Video 20detik]
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2023-11-21 07:02:59
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