부산대학교 도서관

Singapore, a highly urbanized Asian tropical country that experiences periodic dengue outbreaks, is piloting field releases of male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with the aim of suppressing urban populations of the primary dengue vector Aedes aegypti. This study proposes and assesses a model to explain the roles of hesitancy and receptivity towards Project Wolbachia–Singapore in influencing reactive mosquito prevention behaviors (reactive behaviors) towards the release of Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes for residents living in the release sites. Interestingly, both hesitancy and receptivity predicted greater instances of reactive behaviors. The model also examines the roles of general knowledge about Wolbachia technology, perceived severity of mosquito bites, perceived density of mosquitoes, and social responsibility as predictors of hesitancy, receptivity, and reactive behaviors towards the release of Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes. Hesitancy towards the project mediated the effects of general knowledge, perceived severity of mosquito bites, and perceived density of mosquitoes on reactive behaviors towards the releases, although receptivity towards the project did not. Having less knowledge about Project Wolbachia–Singapore was associated with higher hesitancy towards the project and higher likelihood of performing reactive behaviors towards the releases. Individuals who perceive mosquito bites to be more severe and think that there are more mosquitoes in their living environments were also more likely to be hesitant about the project and practice reactive behaviors. However, both hesitancy and receptivity towards the project mediated the effect of social responsibility on reactive behaviors. Receptivity towards the project was driven by social responsibility, which was also associated with reduced hesitancy towards the project. Our findings suggest that, to address the hesitancy reported by a minority of participants, future outreach efforts should focus on strengthening the public's sense of social responsibility and on tailored education campaigns targeting groups with low levels of knowledge of the project. Author summary: The incidence of dengue, a serious mosquito-borne disease, has escalated globally in recent decades. Prevention is critical for reducing the incidence of dengue, and one way of doing so is by controlling the vector population. Singapore has been piloting the use of field releases of male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes mosquitoes to suppress the vector Aedes mosquito population (Project Wolbachia–Singapore), but the public's perception and social impact of this community-based method is not well understood. To address this gap, this study sought to identify and explain the drivers and outcomes of the public's perceptions towards Project Wolbachia–Singapore. Findings reveal that different combinations of individual characteristics predict for receptivity towards Project Wolbachia–Singapore, hesitancy towards Project Wolbachia–Singapore, and the tendency to behave reactively to the release of Wolbachia-carrying Aedes mosquitoes. These findings also suggest ways of increasing receptivity and reducing hesitancy towards such community-based prevention efforts, which can in turn help to ensure the success of such projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]