Cost of intensive routine control and incremental cost of insecticide-treated curtain deployment in a setting with low Aedes aegypti infestation.
BACKGROUND
Information regarding the cost of implementing insecticide-treated curtains (ITCs) is scarce. Therefore, we evaluated the ITC implementation cost, in addition to the costs of intensive conventional routine activities of the Aedes control program in the city of Guantanamo, Cuba.


METHODS
A cost-analysis study was conducted from the perspective of the Aedes control program, nested in an ITC effectiveness trial, during 2009-2010. Data for this study were obtained from bookkeeping records and activity registers of the Provincial Aedes Control Programme Unit and the account records of the ITC trial.


RESULTS
The annual cost of the routine Aedes control program activities was US$16.80 per household (p.h). Among 3,015 households, 6,714 ITCs were distributed. The total average cost per ITC distributed was US$3.42, and 74.3% of this cost was attributed to the cost of purchasing the ITCs. The annualized costs p.h. of ITC implementation was US$3.80. The additional annualized cost for deploying ITCs represented 19% and 48.4% of the total cost of the routine Aedes control and adult-stage Aedes control programs, respectively. The trial did not lead to further reductions in the already relatively low Aedes infestation levels.


CONCLUSIONS
At current curtain prices, ITC deployment can hardly be considered an efficient option in Guantanamo and other comparable environments.
Departamento de Epidemiología, Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kourí, La Habana, Cuba.
Alberto
A
Baly
Departamento de Epidemiología, Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kourí, La Habana, Cuba.
Maria Eugenia
ME
Toledo
Unidad Provincial de Vigilancia y Lucha Antivectorial, Centro Provincial de Higiene y Epidemiología, Guantánamo, Cuba.
Isora
I
Lambert
Unidad Provincial de Vigilancia y Lucha Antivectorial, Centro Provincial de Higiene y Epidemiología, Guantánamo, Cuba.
Elizabeth
E
Benítez
Unidad Provincial de Vigilancia y Lucha Antivectorial, Centro Provincial de Higiene y Epidemiología, Guantánamo, Cuba.
Karina
K
Rodriguez
Unidad Provincial de Vigilancia y Lucha Antivectorial, Centro Provincial de Higiene y Epidemiología, Guantánamo, Cuba.
Esther
E
Rodriguez
Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
Veerle
V
Vanlerberghe
Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.|Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Patrick Van der
PV
Stuyft
D000330:Aedes; D000818:Animals; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003462:Cuba; D003715:Dengue / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007306:Insecticides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000191:economics*; D009032:Mosquito Control / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D057147:Mosquito Nets / Q000191:economics*
D007306:Insecticides