DengueTools: innovative tools and strategies for the surveillance and control of dengue

Figures & data

Fig. 1.  Geographic distribution of the 14 DengueTools consortium partners.

Table 1. Integrated expertise of members the consortium

Expertise	Partner
	1 Umeå, Sweden	2 Colombo, Sri Lanka	3 Cambridge, United Kingdom	4 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	5 Oxford, United Kingdom	6 Bangkok, Thailand	7 London, United Kingdom	8 Basel, Switzerland	9 Paris, France	10 Heidelberg, Germany	11 Singapore, Singapore	12 São Paulo, Brazil	13 Madrid, Spain	14 Montpellier, France
Data management + population studies	✓
Disease surveillance		✓						✓			✓
Entomology		✓			✓	✓	✓		✓		✓			✓
Vector control							✓		✓					✓
GIS and remote sensing										✓
Climate change	✓									✓
Modeling	✓									✓		✓
Clinical/community trials	✓					✓
Clinical management		✓						✓
Viral genetic studies		✓									✓		✓
Diagnostic assays			✓	✓							✓

Fig. 2.  Twelve work packages (WP) and their interconnectedness around the three research areas. Work package 12 handles the management and dissemination of all work packages (not included in this figure).

Table

Box 1: European Commission, Seventh Framework programme, FP7 Cooperation – Health

HEALTH.2011.2.3.3-2: Comprehensive control of dengue fever under changing climatic conditions. FP7-HEALTH-2011-single-stage.

Research should develop innovative tools for one or more of the following aspects: better diagnosis, surveillance, development of treatment, prevention and vaccination strategies, prevention, and/or prediction and prevention of the spread of dengue fever to previously uninfected regions (including Europe), in the context of climate change. Research may also include studies on the underlying pathogenesis with respect to viral and host factors that can predict disease severity and prepare for further development of new vaccines, antiviral compounds, and more targeted treatment schemes.

Funding scheme: Specific International Cooperation Action (SICA) Collaborative Project (small- or medium-scale focused research project) target regions: Latin America and/or Asia. SICA aims to bring about the balanced participation of third countries in collaboration with European partners.

Expected impact: Better tools, and the use thereof, for improved comprehensive control of dengue fever at a global level. Participation from both SICA target regions and SMEs in the projects should help ensuring innovation and exploitation of the results in this area/topic. The degree of such participation will be considered during the evaluation.

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/research/health/infectious-diseases/emerging-epidemics/call-for-proposals_en.html

Table

Box 2: Research gaps identified by the DengueTools consortium

Gaps in dengue surveillance:

Lack of understanding of individual or combined roles of viral, entomological, ecological, environmental, and climate factors that influence dengue transmission dynamics and their respective outbreak predictive capability Lack of evidence on the most feasible, sustainable, and cost-effective approach to integrated surveillance Lack of sensitive and specific early diagnostic assays for field use (inexpensive, rapid results, point-of-care, and portable) Lack of sensitive, reliable, and simple field methods for vector surveillance

Gaps in the prevention and control of dengue:

Lack of effective control strategies to protect children Lack of evaluation of current control methods of vectors, in particular the differences in the control of A. aegypti and A. albopictus, which have implications for vector control efforts in Europe.

Gaps in understanding the risk of introduction of dengue to non-infected areas, including Europe:

Insufficient data on the magnitude and trends of importation and virus evolution over time and by geographic origin Poor understanding of vector density, preferred breeding sites, and vectorial capacity of vectors in temperate climates that are needed for predictive models under changing climate conditions Lack of predictive models for the risk of establishment of dengue in uninfected regions (in particular Europe), taking into account global travel networks and climate change