Review Dengue outbreak response: documented effective interventions and evidence gaps Daniel Pilger 1, Mark De Maesschalck 2, Olaf Horstick 1, Jose Luis San Martin 3 1. Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO/TDR), Geneva, Switzerland 2. Public Health Doctor, Belgium 3. Pan American Health Organization, Panama Corresponding author: Daniel Pilger
[email protected] Database search: July 2008 Abstract Background 2.5 billion people, two-fifths of the world’s population, are at risk from dengue with 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year. Objectives To review the effectiveness of interventions employed during dengue outbreaks, to recommend an evidence-based strategy for the management of dengue outbreak response programmes, and to identify areas for further research. Methods We searched for literature containing different terms for dengue (including dengue fever (DF), dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS)) combined with the terms “outbreak”, “epidemic” and “intervention”, “response”, “control”, “management” and “treatment” in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PubMed, EMBASE, LILACS, WHO library database, grey literature, and through manual reference searching. Studies were included that measured the outcome of interventions implemented during outbreaks by entomological and/or human disease epidemiological parameters. Results A total of 24 (out of 1134) studies met all the inclusion criteria. Different strategies in the organization of outbreak response were identified that clearly emphasized an intersectoral approach. Studies that managed the outbreak response by creating multidisciplinary response teams, including vector control teams working on a door-to-door basis, and studies that monitored and evaluated their activities, showed successful outbreak control.