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Objective: During the 2013–2016 period, Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika affected more than 1 million people in Colombia. These arboviruses and their chronic manifestations pose a public health challenge. Therefore, we estimated the burden of disease by Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika in Colombia between 2013 and 2016. Methods: An exploratory ecological study was carried out using the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) as a unit of measure. The mortality databases of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) and the morbidity databases of the National Public Health Surveillance System (SIVIGILA) were used. Deaths and cases for each arbovirus were grouped and then adjusted to control biases. Subsequently, we performed a sensitivity analysis. Results: In the 2013–2016 period, 491,629.2 DALYs were lost due to arboviruses in Colombia. By disease, 26.6% of the total DALYs were caused by Dengue, 71.3% by Chikungunya, and the remaining 2.2%, by Zika. The majority of DALYs (68.2%) were caused by chronic complications. Five out of 32 departments (Valle del Cauca, Tolima, Norte de Santander, Huila, and Bolívar) contributed 50.5% of total DALYs. Conclusion: The burden of disease by arboviruses in the 2013–2016 period exceeded the burden of other infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Colombia. Public health efforts must be made to mitigate new epidemics of these arboviruses.

Objective. This study aimed to identify the co-circulation patterns of three viruses (dengue, Zika, and chikungunya) in Colombia from 2008 to 2018 by using notification reports provided to the national surveillance system. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted through a review of data for 2008 through 2018 from Colombias Public Health Surveillance System (SIVIGILA). Results. In 2015, when chikungunya was first detected, it had a higher incidence (1 359.0 cases per 100 000 persons) than did the two other diseases. In 2016, when the circulation of Zika virus was first found, the incidence was 296.4 cases per 100 000 persons; that incidence declined dramatically in the next two years. Between 2015 and 2018, there was a substantial decrease in the frequency of dengue circulation, with it going from 334.1 cases per 100 000 persons in 2015 to 90.7 cases per 100 000 in 2017 and 173.1 cases per 100 000 in 2018. Conclusions. The decrease in the number of dengue cases after co-circulation of the three viruses could indicate possible cross-protection. This finding should be further analyzed.

In 2015, the Zika virus was introduced in Colombia. The emergence of this arbovirus is a public health challenge for the country, considering the association between the infection and congenital disorders such as microcephaly. Thus, we estimated the burden of disease due to microcephaly associated with Zika in Colombia and its administrative subdivisions for the period 2015-2016. We conducted an exploratory ecological study, using as unit of measurement disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). The cases of microcephaly were obtained from the Zika national and departmental databases built by the National Public Health Surveillance System (SIVIGILA). Deaths attributed to microcephaly were estimated from previous studies. Finally, we calculated mortality rates and incidences, then we performed a sensitivity analysis under three scenarios (conservative, medium, and extreme) to estimate the DALYs. In the 2015-2016 period, 10,609.4 DALYs were caused by microcephaly associated with Zika in Colombia. 71% of the total DALYs were years of life lost and 29% were years lived with disability. Five out of 32 departments (Meta, Córdoba, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, and Norte de Santander) contributed 71% of total DALYs. The burden of microcephaly associated with Zika outweighed the burden of other congenital anomalies such as neural tube defects and Down syndrome in children aged between 0 and 4 years in Colombia. Public health efforts must be made to prevent and monitor these cases.