Arboviral Disease –Challenges and Success in India

Neglected tropical diseases focus its scope on the “neglected” communicable diseases of developing countries that do not receive sufficient priority in public health programmes and research agenda despite of having an equal share of the global burden of disease, both in terms of chronic disability and mortality.Tropical arboviral infections occur in poor urban and rural environments and disproportionately affect low-income populations. Other neglected viral infections, such as dengue and chikungunya, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and Rift Valley fever afflict the poor more frequently and more severely that can cause significant physical and mental impairment for > 30 months after infection or result in early death. Arboviral disease outcomes can contribute to poverty, perpetuating a vicious cycle of disease, poverty and health care injustice. Arbovirus infections typically occur in epidemics. Due to seasonal and weather-related changes in arthropod-borne transmission of arboviruses and periodic fluctuations in the number of susceptible humans within an area, there may be significant variation in the local, regional and global number of cases from year to year. Access to health care is another important issue for the neglected viral diseases. Previously successful strategies to control ABVDs emphasized vector control but source reduction and vector control strategies using pesticides have not been sustainable. Limitations in health systems in endemic areas undoubtedly lead to underestimation of arbovirus incidence and related complications. Effective prevention strategies can reverse this trend. Research on vaccines, environmentally safe insecticides, alternative approaches to vector control and training programs for health-care workers are needed. Perceptions about the actual frequency of arboviral disease are changing. As better diagnostics are introduced in at-risk areas, more accurate case finding allows for better definition of the risk of symptomatic disease and the long-term sequelae of infection.