Adi Utarini and her team have opened the door to the global eradication of dengue fever. The professor at the School of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing (FK-KMK) at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, is leading a research project to fight mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus with mosquitoes developed in laboratories.
Utarini, who is familiarly called Uut, has served asproject leader for the World Mosquito Program (formerly Eliminate Dengue Project Yogyakarta) since 2013. Uut leads the trans-disciplinary research from the aspects of planning and implementation to building relationships with key national-level stakeholders. She involves around 100 Indonesian scientists with different scientific backgrounds in the study.
The research related to dengue conducted by WMP Yogyakarta was funded by the Tahija Foundation in collaboration with the Center for Tropical Medicine at FK-KMK UGM. The research team eradicates the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the dengue virus with a type of mosquito containing the Wolbachia bacteria.
Wolbachia is the name of natural bacteria. About 70 percent of insects, such as butterflies and fruit flies, carry the bacteria Wolbachia. The beginning of the technology to develop Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti was carried out in Australia. Wolbachia is put into the eggs of dengue-carrying mosquito. The eggs from Wolbchia from Australia were then bred in Indonesia. Furthermore, Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegepti is spread to mate and infect local Aedes aegypti that have not been infected with bacteria.
To get to that stage is not easy. Uut and the team had to make Wolbachia-infected mosquito similar to local mosquito in order to mate. Entering the end of the research, it was found Wolbachia intervention in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can reduce dengue fever cases. "To conclude how big the impact of the Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti mosquito can reduce dengue disease, it will only be known next year. The scientific evidence is very strong. So, we are optimistic about the results," said Uut, Wednesday (27/11/2019), in Yogyakarta.
During research carried out with as ideal procedures as possible, the results so far have proven to be good. The results show that this technology works. In areas given with Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti, the incidence of dengue is 74 percent lower than the control area.
According to Uut, the release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes is an environmental intervention. This
is the success of this technology. "With this environmental intervention, if the dengue-carrying mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bite humans, the human would not get dengue," said Uut, who is also a pianist.
The participation of the community to prevent dengue, continued Uut, continued to be maintained, such as eradicating mosquito nests, maintaining environmental cleanliness or using anti-mosquito repellent.
Special research
Uut claimed she was not a mosquito expert, but an expert in public health policy. In the past, policymakers only join a particular program when the research was finished. Uut adopted a different strategy. She has communicated with various parties since the beginning of the study.
For Uut, the research to eradicate dengue along with WMP Yogyakarta is special. This research has the opportunity to be applied to become a policy. In addition, through this research, Indonesia can contribute to the world for the prevention of dengue. Until now, countries in the tropics, including Indonesia, continue to fight dengue every year. Indonesia is ranked second as the country with the highest number of dengue cases after Brazil.
The research on eradicating dengue with the intervention of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes can be one of the natural solutions.
So far, efforts to eradicate dengue, such as fogging, eradication of mosquito nests, the 4M Plus approach (draining, burying, closing and monitoring potential mosquito nests), have not succeeded in reducing the number of dengue patients significantly. The research on eradicating dengue with the intervention of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes can be one of the natural solutions.
Another reason, said Uut, was that the research was supported by funds from within the country, namely from the Tahija Foundation. "This is a source of pride, [because it is] funded by an Indonesian philanthropy, and this is through to the end. This is what makes us enthusiastic," said Uut, who previously focused on research of tuberculosis and malaria.
Uut intervened throughout the research development, including taking part in promoting this research to the Regional Development Planning Agency, the Ombudsman, and even to the regional police chief. She also must be patient to meet the people who had refused the release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in their area.
"[People were worried] Because this technology aims to eradicate dengue by releasing dengue-carrying mosquitoes that have been infected with Wolbachia. In fact, people are actually afraid of dengue mosquitoes, fearing they would get infected with dengue. Thus, the community must be given an understanding so that they want to get involved and feel they have the Wolchichia mosquito," said Uut, who last November received the 2019 Habibie Award in Medical Field.
Uut also willingly gave up her body to be bitten by the Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti mosquito at the WMP Yogyakarta’s entomology laboratory. Together with other researchers involved, they took turns feeding mosquitoes with their blood. Everything they do is to open the way for the eradication of dengue fever that has claimed many victims.
Adi Utarini
Born: Yogyakarta, 4 June 1965
Education:Doctor of Philosophy from Umea University, Sweden (2002)
Award:Habibie Award in Medical and Biotechnology in 2019