Health Economics of Dengue: A Systematic Literature Review and Expert Panel's Assessment

Abstract

Dengue vaccines are currently in development and policymakers need appropriate economic studies to determine their potential financial and public health impact. We searched five databases (PubMed, EMBASE, LILAC, EconLit, and WHOLIS) to identify health economics studies of dengue. Forty-three manuscripts were identified that provided primary data: 32 report economic burden of dengue and nine are comparative economic analyses assessing various interventions. The remaining two were a willingness-to-pay study and a policymaker survey. An expert panel reviewed the existing dengue economic literature and recommended future research to fill information gaps. Although dengue is an important vector-borne disease, the economic literature is relatively sparse and results have often been conflicting because of use of inconsistent assumptions. Health economic research specific to dengue is urgently needed to ensure informed decision making on the various options for controlling and preventing this disease.

Total Economic Cost and Burden of Dengue in Nicaragua: 1996–2010

“…[42][43][44][45] Although there are limitations to these analyses, a dengue expert panel has compiled previous dengue economic research and recently called for additional cost of illness and DALY burden assessments over greater time periods to inform policy and decision-making, a decision echoed by another recent publication by the Scientific Working Group on Dengue Research. 24,46 In this study, we have quantified the economic cost and burden of disease associated with dengue illness in Nicaragua from 1996 to 2010. These findings allow for a better estimate of the burden of disease in the region, and can be used presently to assess the allocation of resources for dengue on the national and international levels.…”

Knowledge and awareness towards dengue infection and its prevention: a cross sectional study from rural area of Tamil Nadu, India

“…5,6 Overall burden of disease is appearing sleek due to the substantial underreporting of dengue within health systems. 7 The disease was mainly restricted to urban and semiurban areas of the country because of the availability of favorable breeding sites of dengue vector. However, over period of time there was a paradigm shift in the trend of incidence of dengue from urban to rural areas due to urbanization, industrialization, large scale development activities and rapid transportation which made the rural areas favorable for dengue vector breeding.…”

Dengue in India: The importance of child education

“…Some 50-100 million new infections are estimated to occur annually in more than 100 endemic countries (WHO, 2012a; Figure 2), with a documented further spread to previously unaffected areas (CDC, 2010;La Ruche G et al, 2010); every year hundreds of thousands of severe cases arise, including 20 000 deaths (Gubler DJ, Meltzer MI, 1999); 264 disability-adjusted life years per million population per year are lost (Cattand P et al, 2006), at an estimated cost for ambulatory and hospitalized cases of US$ 514-1394 (Suaya J et al, 2009), often affecting very poor populations. The true numbers are probably far worse, since severe underreporting and misclassification of dengue cases have been documented (Suaya J et al, 2007;Beatty ME et al 2011). This global strategy addresses the necessary steps and opportunities for investment in order to achieve the objective of reducing mortality and morbidity caused by dengue.…”