Alex Jackson

Alex Jackson

UK-based journalist and global editorial manager. Writes about science, the environment, health and technology.

Passionate about communicating the lesser-known human interest stories from across the globe, and championing scientists and voices from under-represented backgrounds and communities in reportage.

Contributed to The Guardian, Nature, Scientific American, BBC, Reuters, Japan Times, Mail & Guardian, Yorkshire Post, Geographical Magazine and Huffington Post.

World Mosquito Program •

El Salvador's war on dengue

El Salvador’s war on dengue María Eugenia Viana proudly adorns the bright yellow walls of her home with family photos. Alongside a motorcycle-themed wall planner, hanging guitar and decorations, are all her favourite memories immaculately framed, with each of her seven children, six children-in-law, and 10 grandchildren taking centre stage. The 58-year-old has lived in the verdant San Marcelino Las Flores, in the small central American nation of El Salvador, for more than 27 years, and has seen mosquito-borne diseases including dengue and Zika sweep through the heart of her community regularly.
World Mosquito Program •

Why diverse perspectives matter in the fight against mosquito-borne disease

“Dengue is not the fight of one person, it's the fight of everyone, of the whole world,” says Matheo Seleone, a community volunteer in New Caledonia. Dengue has long cast a shadow on his community. The virus hit him hard and sadly killed his neighbour — something that has stayed with him for almost 40 years. It is why he believes awareness and involvement from all corners of the community in controlling the spread of mosquito-borne diseases is so important.
World Mosquito Program •

Dengue cases drop to 20-year low in the Aburrá Valley, Colombia

New research by the World Mosquito Program (WMP) and the University of Antioquia, published today in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, shows dengue cases have dropped to the lowest level in 20 years across Colombia’s Aburrá Valley following large-scale releases of Wolbachia mosquitoes. WMP’s city-wide deployments of Wolbachia mosquitoes between 2015 and 2022 in Bello, Medellín and Itagüi — protecting more than three million people — have seen dengue incidence rates drop by at least 95 per cent.
World Mosquito Program •

Battling dengue and chikungunya in El Salvador

Claudia Lara has seen the impact of dengue more than most. As a paediatrician with over 25 years experience working in El Salvador’s capital city, San Salvador, she has witnessed the brutal consequences of major mosquito-borne outbreaks and the effects on young people and children. “I think every Salvadoran knows the classic symptoms of dengue,” says Lara, who herself has suffered from the disease. “Dengue almost killed me — I got dengue hemorrhagic fever.”
World Mosquito Program •

Alicinda Tibério: The indigenous leader on empowering her community to combat dengue with the Wolbachia method.

The indigenous leader on empowering her community to combat dengue with the Wolbachia method. Alicinda Tibério remembers the impact of dengue like it was yesterday. “The symptoms are dreadful,” she says. The indigenous leader of the Água Bonita Urban Village, in Campo Grande, west central Brazil, was in bed for almost 15 days when she was diagnosed with dengue following a blood test.
World Mosquito Program •

Dengue’s deadly impact on children

"I hallucinated that I was going to die," says Thinh Cuong Trinh. At just 13-years-old, Thinh has already been hospitalised twice by dengue. He vividly recalls the crippling fever, loss of appetite, headaches and fatigue that have become a part of his childhood. It’s a disease which has drained his family emotionally. In Thu Dau Mot, a small but thriving urban centre which skirts the Saigon River in Southern Vietnam, where Thinh lives, dengue has long cast a shadow over the proud local community
Pakistan Today •

Is dengue the next threat in flood-hit Pakistan?

KARACHI: As devastating floods rip through Pakistan impacting more than 33 million people, another major threat lies round the corner. Public health experts are warning of the rising risk of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue spreading across the country. Pakistan has already been grappling with increasing dengue cases and the unusually early and heavy monsoon rains this year have provided favourable conditions for mosquitoes to breed in.
World Mosquito Program •

Explicativo: Cómo el cambio climático está amplificando las enfermedades transmitidas por mosquitos | World Mosquito Program

Las enfermedades transmitidas por mosquitos matan a más de un millón de personas e infectan hasta 700 millones cada año: casi una de cada diez personas. A medida que el planeta se caliente y el cambio climático alargue la temporada de mosquitos, la criatura más mortal del mundo expandirá su rango geográfico a nuevas regiones y volverá a emerger en áreas donde el número de mosquitos había disminuido por décadas. Patrones climáticos extremos tales como sequías, olas de calor, inundaciones y p
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