First Study Estimates Economic Impact of Dengue Illness in Americas at $2.1 Billion Per Year

Deerfield, Illinios (ots/PRNewswire) - The first
assessment of the total cost of dengue illness in the Americas
reveals the economic burden to be approximately $2.1 billion per
year, exceeding that from other viral illnesses including human
papillomavirus (HPV) and rotavirus. Results of the study conducted by
Brandeis University were released in the February issue of the
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
(http://www.ajtmh.org/ ).

Approximately 60 percent of this economic burden results from
indirect costs mostly related to productivity losses affecting
households, employers and government expenditures. Direct costs
include ambulatory and hospital care. Estimates are based on five
components: the number of reported dengue cases, the degree of
under-reporting, the direct and indirect costs per case, the
disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) burden per case and the
country's demographic information.

"Dengue is a growing human and economic burden worldwide and in
2009 we saw the first major outbreak in the continental U.S. in over
50 years," said Donald Shepard, PhD, Brandeis University. "We know
first-hand that regardless of where you live, we are all affected by
dengue. At Brandeis, we lost a remarkable graduate, Mironda Heston,
due to dengue while she was working in Haiti. In her memory, we are
extremely dedicated and proud to contribute to a better understanding
of this awful virus in hopes to better control it."

Dengue is the most common mosquito-borne virus in the world,
recently reemerging in countries that were previously free of it.
Globally, the projected number of annual dengue infections is
estimated between 50-100 million, with 24,000 deaths, mainly in
children. When compared to the same countries, the economic impact of
dengue exceeds that estimated for HPV, the most common sexually
transmitted infection, and rotavirus, the most common cause of
severe, dehydrating diarrhea among children worldwide.

"Economic impact studies are a valuable tool to help
policymakers, scientists and health professionals assess the progress
being made to control and eradicate diseases here and around the
world," said Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, President, American Society of
Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. "As citizens of a global world, we
cannot tolerate the continued pain and suffering that is caused by
dengue. We must forge ahead with vaccine development and community
control, participation and education campaigns."

About the ASTMH

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene ( http://ww
w.astmh.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home1&WebsiteKey=452e1eb1-b2d5-
48a7-857a-c789a07c27d1), founded in 1903, is a worldwide organization
of scientists, clinicians and program professionals whose mission is
to promote global health through the prevention and control of
infectious and other diseases that disproportionately afflict the
global poor.

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About the Heller School

Prof. Shepard and co-author, Yara Halasa, are based at the Heller
School for Social Policy and Management
(http://heller.brandeis.edu/). With an international and domestic
policy focus, the Heller School sponsors a social policy doctoral
program and five master's programs in addition to having an active
roster of 125 policy research projects.

About Mironda Heston

In September 2004, at the age of 24, Mironda Heston, MA '04,
Brandeis University, lost her battle against dengue fever which she
contracted while doing international development work. Linda Heston,
Mironda's mother, is "thrilled that Brandeis University is continuing
to focus on work that will encourage the creation of a vaccine or
other solutions to control or eliminate dengue in the U.S. and around
the world so other families do not have to go through what we went
through." Mironda was dedicated to improving the lives of the
disproportionately poor and traveled yearly to Haiti where she
contracted dengue. The Mironda Heston Health Center in Haiti and the
Mironda Heston Memorial Fund at Brandeis's Heller School are named in
her memory.

ots Originaltext: Brandeis University
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