Effectiveness of an intervention for Aedes aegypti control scaled-up under an inter-sectoral approach in a Colombian city hyper-endemic for dengue virus

PLoS One. 2020 Apr 1;15(4):e0230486. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230486. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Aedes aegypti transmitted arboviral diseases are of significant importance in Colombia, particularly since the 2014/2015 introduction of chikungunya and Zika in the Americas and the increasing spread of dengue. In response, the Colombian government initiated the scaling-up of a community-based intervention under inter and multi-sector partnerships in two out of four sectors in Girardot, one of the most hyper-endemic dengue cities in the country. Using a quasi-experimental research design a scaled-up community-led Aedes control intervention was assessed for its capacity to reduce dengue from January 2010 to August 2017 in Girardot, Colombia. Reported dengue cases, and associated factors were analysed from available data sets from the Colombian disease surveillance systems. We estimated the reduction in dengue cases before and after the intervention using, Propensity Score Matching and an Autoregressive Moving Average model for robustness. In addition, the differences in dengue incidence among scaling-up phases (pre-implementation vs sustainability) and between treatment groups (intervention and control areas) were modelled. Evidence was found in favour of the intervention, although to maximise impact the scaling-up of the intervention should continue until it covers the remaining sectors. It is expected that a greater impact of the intervention can be documented in the next outbreak of dengue in Girardot.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aedes / physiology*
  • Aedes / virology
  • Animals
  • Cities
  • Colombia / epidemiology
  • Dengue / epidemiology
  • Dengue / pathology*
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Humans
  • Mosquito Control / methods*
  • Program Evaluation*

Grants and funding

The study was supported financially by a grant from the following institutions: Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation of Colombia (Colciencias) Project 622172553374 and by the International Development Research Center of Canada (IDRC) Project 107843-001. The nets employed in this study were donated by the Ministry of Health of Colombia. Colciencias URL: https://www.colciencias.gov.co/ IDRC URL: https://www.idrc.ca/ The funders had no role in the e study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. JQ and GC received boths awards.