Wolbachia method
- A recent study suggests that the “Wolbachia method” could be used to significantly reduce the incidence of dengue fever.
- Scientists from the World Mosquito Program (WMP) of Monash University in Australia and Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia tested this method in a 27-month trial in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
- It was found that using the Wolbachia method reduced the occurrence of dengue in the treated population by 77%.
- This method involves introducing Wolbachia, a type of bacteria, into populations of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for spreading dengue.
- When the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes breed with their wild counterparts, the percentage of mosquitoes carrying the bacterium grows.
