Costs of dengue hospitalization and public prevention and control activities in urban Sri Lanka

• Introduction: Dengue has become a major public health problem in Sri Lanka; however, the economic impact of the disease has not been studied in this setting. This study assessed the costs of dengue prevention and control activities and the direct medical costs of dengue hospitalizations in the Colombo District, the most affected district with the highest dengue caseloads in the country.Methods: The study was conducted in the epidemic year of 2012. Using information from the official databases of governmental agencies in charge of the dengue prevention and control activities in each administrative unit, we calculated the total financial costs of these activities and the average cost per capita. The direct medical costs of hospitalized dengue cases in the public health sector were derived using operational budgets and a sample of bed head tickets of adult and pediatric patients available from six secondary-level hospitals.Results: In 2012, the total financial cost of dengue prevention and control activities in the Colombo District was about $998 000, or $0.43 per capita. The mean direct medical costs to the public health care system per case of hospitalized dengue fever (DF) and dengue haemoraggic fever (DHF) were $221 and $316 for paediatric partients, respectively, and $203 and $272 for adult patients, respectively.Conclusion: These preliminary results highlight the high economic burden of dengue to the public health sector in the Colombo district in Sri Lanka during an epidemic year and contribute to the sparse literature on the economic burden of dengue in affected countries.Acknowledgements: This research was funded by ‘DengueTools’ of the 7th Framework Programme of the European Community.Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

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