La Estrategia de Gestión Integrada para la Prevención y el Control del Dengue en la Región de las Américas

Abstract

During the last 22 years, the Region of the Americas has seen an upward trend in dengue incidence, with epidemics peaking ever higher and recurring every 3-5 years, almost regularly. A major factor in the spread of the disease has been the diminished capacity of national programs to respond with dengue prevention and control. This paper evaluates the Integrated Strategy for Dengue Prevention and Control-approved by the 44th Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization in September 2003- and its preliminary results. The Integrated Strategy for Dengue is a management model designed to strengthen national programs, with a focus on reducing morbidity, mortality, and the societal and economic burdens produced by outbreaks and epidemics. Currently, 11 of the countries in the Region have developed a plan for or implemented a national strategy. In addition, a sub-Regional plan has been developed for Central America and the Dominican Republic. The Integrated Strategy for Dengue is expected to produce a qualitative leap forward in prevention and control through stronger partnerships among the State, its various ministries, and governing bodies, at all levels; private companies; and the range of community and civil groups. Once implemented, this strategy will reduce risk factors for dengue transmission, establish an integrated epidemiological surveillance system, decrease Aedes aegypti mosquito populations, prepare laboratories to better detect and identify the virus, optimize diagnosis and treatment, and, as a result, decrease the frequency, magnitude, and severity of dengue outbreaks and epidemics.

The Epidemiology of Dengue in the Americas Over the Last Three Decades: A Worrisome Reality

“…The development of effective vaccines to protect against the four dengue serotypes, in conjunction with the broad implementation of a PAHO initiative, the Integrated Management Strategy for Dengue Prevention, seem to be the most promising approaches for disease control. 49 Received June 21, 2009. Accepted for publication September 17, 2009. …”

Dengue in the Americas: challenges for prevention and control

“…Programs should incorporate epidemiological surveillance, community participation, management of the environment and basic public services, case management, education, and effective vector control and training. Sustained dengue control requires partnerships among donors, the public sector, civil society, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and the interactions between politicians, public health personnel, administrators, engineers, urban planners, and environmental groups, in order to strengthen existing intersectoral management structures in support of community actions 67,68 .…”

Report of domiciliary water reservoirs colonized by Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) in an area of Camagüey (Cuba)

“…La actividad higiénica a nivel de comunidad en combinación con el fortalecimiento técnico de las investigaciones epidemiológicas y entomológicas in situ tiene un papel relevante en el control. La efectividad al nivel anterior incrementa la exactitud posterior del diagnóstico viral y reduce los eventos de manejo clínico de casos (San Martín & Brathwaite-Dick 2007).…”