Trend of dengue cases in Sri Lanka: An empirical investigation in Doluwa area in Kandy district

Abstract

Introduction: Dengue Fever (DF) is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. As there is no commercially available vaccine, prevention is sought by reducing the habitat thus resulting a decrease in the number of mosquitoes and limiting exposure to bites. According to the WHO report (2012) approximately 2.5 billion people, two fifths of the world's population is now at risk of dengue and estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year. The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries. The cases of dengue related diseases have dramatically increased in Sri Lanka over the last few decades, and also there was an explosive increase in geographic distribution of dengue after 1950s in the country. Reasons such as uncontrolled urbanization, rapid population movement, inadequate water, bad waste management as well as unsustainable vector control programs have already been identified. Sri Lanka is classified as a “Category A” country by W.H.O. which means dengue fever is a leading cause of hospitalization and death. Limited researches have been done to estimate the cost in prevention and treatment for dengue in Sri Lanka and there is no research done to estimate the cost in prevention and treatment dengue in Kandy district. Estimation of the costs of dengue has many dimensions which include information on the economic benefits of dengue control, prevention intervention and information on cost-effectiveness and budget impact analysis. A number of studies have been already undertaken to investigate various aspects of the spread of dengue fever and cost of prevention and treat dengue in different countries (Kovats et al. 2001; Lafferty, 2009). Then cost elements were examined to identify variables and fixed costs pertaining to each activity within each element. Health cost of dengue prevention activities in Colombo district reached a total of LKR 127 million. The review of the previous studies shows that most studies have considered the different aspects on spreading of dengue in different countries and estimates the cost for dengue. However, these studies have only provided limited information on these links. Accordingly, it is obvious that more conceptual and theoretical work is needed to develop a better understanding of this relationship. This study will fill this void in the literature.