Rob Goodier

ALT The incidence of dengue appears to have dropped by 77% in areas of Yogyakarta City, Indonesia, that were treated with Wolbachia-infected mosquito eggs in a new cluster-randomized trial, according to new research. When mosquitoes are infected with Wolbachia bacteria, their ability to transmit RNA viruses such as dengue is reduced. "In fact, the 77% reduction in dengue incidence that we observed in Wolbachia-treated areas was much larger than the 50% effect size that we powered the trial to detect," said Dr. Katherine Anders of the World Mosquito Program at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. "We expect that after Wolbachia deployments are completed throughout the untreated areas of Yogyakarta by the end of this year, we are likely to see an even greater impact on dengue transmission - and are optimistic that this may even result in local elimination of dengue for years to come," she told Reuters Health by email.