Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease estimated to cause about 50-100 million infections worldwide every year, of which 25,000 are fatal. Global incidence has risen rapidly in recent decades: some 2.5 billion people – two fifths of the world's population – are now at risk, mainly in the tropics and sub-tropics, but climate change and travel patterns have also contributed to the introduction of Dengue fever even in Europe.
DengueTools endeavours to achieve better diagnosis, surveillance, prevention, prediction and/or prevention of the spread of Dengue fever to previously uninfected regions (including Europe) in the context of climate change. The project is funded under the Health theme of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community, Grant Agreement Number: 282589 Dengue Tools
To address the research questions, 12 work packages were created around 3 research areas:
Research area 1:
Novel diagnostic and monitoring tools and strategies for dengue surveillance and early warning systems
(under the leadership of Professor Duane Gubler)
Research area 2:
Novel strategies for the prevention of dengue in children
(under the leadership of Professor Annelies Wilder-Smith)
Research area 3:
Risk of global spread of dengue and introduction into Europe
(under the leadership of Dr Joacim Rocklöv)
Project description
Current surveillance systems and control efforts are clearly insufficient to combat dengue in endemic countries and to prevent spread to previously uninfected areas (including Europe). We will focus on the following aspects of the call: better diagnosis, surveillance, prevention as well as prediction and/or prevention of the spread of Dengue fever to previously uninfected regions (including Europe) in the context of climate change. We will develop a rapid diagnostic assay for resource limited settings that can be used as point-of-care, is portable, provides rapid results and is inexpensive. Novel tools for vector monitoring will be tested. We propose to develop a comprehensive, early warning, laboratory-based sentinel surveillance system that integrates clinical, entomological, environmental, socio-economic, and weather/climate indices to evaluate predictive capability for epidemic dengue.
The aim is to translate this information directly into improved tools for surveillance (early diagnostic assays, early warning systems and predictive models, risk maps, improved tools for vector surveillance). Furthermore, we will test the impact of a novel community-based strategy on the reduction of dengue incidence in school aged children. Lastly, the integrated information on trends of importation of dengue, global mobility patterns, and vector distribution under changing climate conditions will improve our current understanding of the risk of introduction into previously uninfected areas, in particular Europe. Web based predictive tools, models and maps will be produced. The information will be disseminated to relevant agencies, academia and policy makers and will translate into improved surveillance and control.
Partner 1: Umeå University, Sweden
Partner 2: Epidemiological Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka
Partner 3: TwistDx Ltd, UK
Partner 4: University of Malaya
Partner 5: Oxitec Ltd, UK
Partner 6: Centre of Excellence for Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases, Thailand
Partner 7: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UK
Partner 8: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Switzerland
Partner 9: Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Partner 10: Heidelberg University Medical School, Germany
Partner 11: DUKE-NUS, Singapore
Partner 12: University of São Paulo, Brasil
Partner 13: Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
Partner 14: Entente Inter-Départementable pour la Démoustication du littoral méditerranéean-Montpellier, France