Training in Dengue Prevention and Control

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

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Abstract

Abstract / Summary This is a revision of a Fogarty training grant proposal Training in Dengue Prevention and Control submitted in September of 2009 to build an international infectious disease training program for Mexican predoctoral and postdoctoral students at Colorado State University. The focus of the proposed GIDRTP is to provide critical training in modern approaches for control of the dengue virus (DENV1-4) mosquito vector Aedes aegypti and subsequent prevention of epidemic dengue fever (DF) and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF). Both diseases have emerged as major public health problems in the Americas. This proposal was originally submitted last year in conjunction with an application for an International Collaborations in Infectious Disease Research (ICIDR) grant Sustainable control of Aedes aegypti and epidemic dengue. That ICIDR grant, a collaboration with coinvestigators Dra A. Flores-Suarez from UANL in Monterrey, and Dr. Farfan-Ale from UADY in Merida was awarded and began in September 2010. Thus, if this Fogerty application is funded, we are poised to continue to train pre- and postdoctoral student from Mexico in the most up to date methods to control the Ae. aegypti and subsequent prevention of DF and DHF. The proposed training program will be flexible and will permit specialized coursework and laboratory or field projects in one of four tracks: 1) mosquito monitoring and control, 2) insecticide resistance management, 3) effector molecule development or 4) genetic control. Despite this flexibility all students will become directly involved in populating the Dengue Decision Support System (DDSS) which is being actively developed at CSU with data on dengue patients, laboratory diagnostics, mosquito abundance, and insecticide resistance collected in real time. The DDSS aims to support operational vector/disease control programs by increasing their capacity to: 1) collect, store, manage, and analyze mosquito vector- and disease-related data, 2) produce informative analysis outputs (charts, graphs, maps, tables) to support decision-making, and 3) implement locally appropriate vector/disease control program strategies and methodologies. Ultimately students may also become responsible for establishing and maintaining the DDSS in their own states upon their return to Mexico.