title: Innovative dengue vector control interventions in Latin America: what do they cost?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Five studies were conducted in Fortaleza (Brazil), Girardot (Colombia), Machala (Ecuador), Acapulco (Mexico), and Salto (Uruguay) to assess dengue vector control interventions tailored to the context. The studies involved the community explicitly in the implementation, and focused on the most productive breeding places for Aedes aegypti. This article reports the cost analysis of these interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted the costing from the perspective of the vector control program. We collected data on quantities and unit costs of the resources used to deliver the interventions. Comparable information was requested for the routine activities. Cost items were classified, analyzed descriptively, and aggregated to calculate total costs, costs per house reached, and incremental costs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cost per house of the interventions were $18.89 (Fortaleza), $21.86 (Girardot), $30.61 (Machala), $39.47 (Acapulco), and $6.98 (Salto). Intervention components that focused mainly on changes to the established vector control programs seem affordable; cost savings were identified in Salto (-21%) and the clean patio component in Machala (-12%). An incremental cost of 10% was estimated in Fortaleza. On the other hand, there were also completely new components that would require sizeable financial efforts (installing insecticide-treated nets in Girardot and Acapulco costs $16.97 and $24.96 per house, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The interventions are promising, seem affordable and may improve the cost profile of the established vector control programs. The costs of the new components could be considerable, and should be assessed in relation to the benefits in reduced dengue burden.
authors.affiliation: a Centre for Medicine and Society, Global Health , Freiburg University , Freiburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alfonso-Sierra
authors.affiliation: b Facultad de Agronomía, Departamento de Protección Vegetal , Universidad de la República , Montevideo , Uruguay.
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Basso
authors.affiliation: c Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud , Universidad Técnica de Machala , Machala , Ecuador.|d Servicio Nacional de Control de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Vectores Artrópodos , Guayaquil , Ecuador.
authors.forename: Efraín
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Beltrán-Ayala
authors.affiliation: e Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program/Global Health Research Program, School of Population and Public Health , University of British Columbia , Vancouver , Canada.
authors.forename: Kendra
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mitchell-Foster
authors.affiliation: f Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogotá , Bogotá , Colombia.
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quintero
authors.affiliation: f Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogotá , Bogotá , Colombia.
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cortés
authors.affiliation: g Unidad Colaborativa para Bioensayos Entomológicos, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias , Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán , Mérida , México.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manrique-Saide
authors.affiliation: g Unidad Colaborativa para Bioensayos Entomológicos, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias , Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán , Mérida , México.
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guillermo-May
authors.affiliation: h Department of Public Health , University of Ceará State (UECE) , Fortaleza , Brazil.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caprara
authors.affiliation: h Department of Public Health , University of Ceará State (UECE) , Fortaleza , Brazil.
authors.forename: Edilmar Carvalho
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: de Lima
authors.affiliation: i Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) , World Health Organization , Geneva , Switzerland.|j Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine , Liverpool , UK.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kroeger
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003715:Dengue / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology; D007843:Latin America; D009032:Mosquito Control / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods
keywords: Cost analysis; Dengue; Vector control; Vector management