Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul 18;21(1):1417.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11380-w.

Public sentiments towards the use of Wolbachia-Aedes technology in Singapore

Christina Liew  1   2 , Li Ting Soh  3 , Irene Chen  3 , Lee Ching Ng  3   4
Affiliations

Public sentiments towards the use of Wolbachia-Aedes technology in Singapore

Christina Liew et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Wolbachia technology is a novel vector control approach that can reduce mosquito populations and the risk of mosquito-borne diseases, which has recently gained popularity amongst countries. In 2016, Singapore embarked on a multi-phased field study named Project Wolbachia - Singapore, to evaluate the use of Wolbachia technology as an Aedes aegypti mosquito population suppression tool to fight dengue. Due to the novelty of this technology in Singapore, this study aims to understand the public's acceptance and sentiments towards the use of Wolbachia technology.

Methods: Several public sentiment survey approaches - including online, face-to-face in the streets, as well as door-to-door household surveys - were conducted.

Results: The surveys conducted prior to the first field releases and implementation of the project revealed high support for the use of Wolbachia technology in Singapore. A household perception survey conducted in the interim of the first project phase was encouraging, with the majority of the respondents being aware of the project and having no concerns with the release of male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti (Wolbachia-Aedes) mosquitoes in their neighbourhood.

Conclusions: The study reveal high support for the use of Wolbachia technology in Singapore and also provided invaluable insights that were used in the development of a public communications and engagement framework model, which thus helped to guide these elements in the subsequent phases and expansion of the project.

Keywords: Dengue; Perception; Singapore; Survey; Wolbachia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

    1. Hancock PA, Sinkins SP, Godfray HCJ. Strategies for introducing Wolbachia to reduce transmission of mosquito-borne diseases. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2011;5(4):e1024. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001024. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bourtzis K, Dobson SL, Xi Z, Rasgon JL, Calvitti M, Moreira LA, Bossin HC, Moretti R, Baton LA, Hughes GL, Mavingui P, Gilles JRL. Harnessing mosquito-Wolbachia symbiosis for vector and disease control. Acta Trop. 2014;132(Suppl):S150–S163. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2013.11.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leftwich PT, Bolton M, Chapman T. Evolutionary biology and genetic techniques for insect control. Evol Appl. 2016;9(1):212–230. doi: 10.1111/eva.12280. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brelsfoard C, Dobson S. Wolbachia-based strategies to control insect pests and disease vectors. Asia Pac J Mol Biol Biotechnol. 2009;17.
    1. Laven H. Eradication of Culex pipiens fatigans through cytoplasmic incompatibility. Nature. 1967;216(5113):383–384. doi: 10.1038/216383a0. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types