The Cost of Arbovirus Disease Prevention in Europe: Area-Wide Integrated Control of Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus, in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy

Abstract

Aedes albopictus (tiger mosquito) has become the most invasive mosquito species worldwide, in addition to being a well-known vector of diseases, with a proven capacity for the transmission of chikungunya and dengue viruses in Europe as well as the Zika virus in Africa and in laboratory settings. This research quantifies the cost that needs to be provided by public-health systems for area-wide prevention of arboviruses in Europe. This cost has been calculated by evaluating the expenditure of the plan for Aedes albopictus control set up in the Emilia-Romagna region (Northern Italy) after a chikungunya outbreak occurred in 2007. This plan involves more than 280 municipalities with a total of 4.2 million inhabitants. Public expenditure for plan implementation in 2008–2011 was examined through simple descriptive statistics. Annual expenditure was calculated to be approximately €1.3 per inhabitant, with a declining trend (from a total of €7.6 million to €5.3 million) and a significant variability at the municipality level. The preventative measures in the plan included antilarval treatments (about 75% of total expenditure), education for citizens and in schools, entomological surveillance, and emergency actions for suspected viremias. Ecological factors and the relevance of tourism showed a correlation with the territorial variability in expenditure. The median cost of one antilarval treatment in public areas was approximately €0.12 per inhabitant. Organizational aspects were also analyzed to identify possible improvements in resource use.

The containment of potential outbreaks triggered by imported Chikungunya cases in Italy: a cost utility epidemiological assessment of vector control measures

“…The effectiveness of vector control strategies adopted during the 2007 Italian outbreak 20 and of larvicide treatments in areas characterised by low-moderate vector abundance 21 has been recently investigated. Cost associated with preventive measures adopted in Emilia Romagna after the 2007 outbreak were also quantified 22 and the impact of CHIKV either in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) losses 10 , 23 or economic costs was evaluated for tropical regions 5 , 10 , 24 . However, only few studies were conducted within a cost-utility framework to investigate the cost-effectiveness of vector control strategies.…”

Costos de un programa de control del vector Aedes aegypti en municipios de Colombia: el caso de Girón y Guadalajara de Buga, 2016

“…A nivel de costo per cápita, el costo del programa de control de vectores en Girón fue de USD 0,88 y en Guadalajara de Buga fue de USD 0,99, estos valores contrastados con la experiencia internacional se encuentran por debajo de estudios como el de Guantánamo con un costo de USD 5,09 per cápita 19 o para las municipalidades del norte de Italia en la provincia de Emilia-Romagna con EUR 1,2 (USD 1,67 aproximadamente) per cápita 22 . A nivel de costo por estrategias, Guantánamo registró un costo per cápita superior en la estrategia de control de vector adulto con un costo de USD 3,09 per cápita y USD 2 per cápita para el control larvario 19 , mientras que en Girón el costo para esta estrategia fue de USD 0,23 per cápita y de USD 0,5 per cápita para Guadalajara de Buga y para la estrategia de control larvario fue de USD 0,05 per cápita para Girón y USD 0,4 per cápita para Guadalajara de Buga.…”

Mathematical modeling to design public health policies for Chikungunya epidemic using optimal control

“…Costs are challenging to estimate in the real world and vary depending on the region or country where implemented. Nevertheless, some studies have estimated the associated costs of control policies and infected individuals 38‐43 . In this paper, we consider three different control strategies.…”