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Background: Dengue is hyperendemic in Colombia. It imposes a substantial economic burden on patients, caregivers, society, and the national health system. We intend to identify and synthesize the evidence regarding the economic burden of dengue in Colombia., Methods: A systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42021257985) of economic studies was performed. A comprehensive search was completed in PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the LILACS, and SciELO databases. Study selection and data extraction was made by two researchers., Results: 160 records were identified. Of these, 14 studies were selected for data extraction. Direct medical cost of dengue is mainly represented by hospitalization (USD 823 to 1,754). The annual aggregated cost is near to USD 159.6 million, with ambulatory care (USD 90.1 million) and fatal cases (USD 30.7 million) representing 75% of the total cost. The aggregate indirect cost (due to loss in income while sick or as a caretaker) was USD 92.8 million. Vaccination seems to reduce the economic cost of dengue., Conclusions: Dengue financial burden could be challenging for low-income communities as those affected in Colombia. An integrated approach including vector control and the introduction of a vaccine for dengue has the potential to reduce the economic burden of the disease., Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Ivan Arboleda is an employee of Baxalta (Takeda) Colombia SAS, Riona Hanley, Randee Kastner, are employees of Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Elaine Gallagher and Marcela Fuquen were employees of Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Baxalta (Takeda) Colombia respectively at the time this systematic literature review was conducted., (Copyright: © 2024 Rodríguez-Morales et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Dengue is the most important viral vector-borne disease in the tropics, with Colombia being one of the most affected countries. In this context, it is essential to identify and synthesize the existing evidence on the epidemiology of dengue in Colombia. A systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42021257985) was conducted by searching for epidemiological data in populations with suspected or confirmed dengue in Colombia from 2012 to 2020. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the LILACS, and SciELO databases, and 104 publications out of 1,234 records were selected. The dengue annual incidence rate varied through the years without a clear trend. The lowest annual incidence rate was observed in 2017 (90.7 per 100,000 population) and the highest in 2013 (476.2 per 100,000 population). The proportion of severe cases in the same period ranged between 0.89% in 2016 and 2.7% in 2012. The four dengue virus (DENV) serotypes co-circulated in the country, and DENV-2 was the predominant serotype. Fifty percent of dengue cases occurred in people under 20 years, and those between 5 and 14 years had the highest incidence rate. The mortality rate for all dengue cases ranged from 0.07% in 2020 to 0.16% in 2012 and 2015. In conclusion, dengue is a hyperendemic disease in Colombia with the circulation of four serotypes. New strategies must be implemented to prevent the contagion and impact of the disease on the population at risk.

Objective: To estimate the budgetary impact of COVID-19 vaccination in six Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, during the 2021-2022 biennium., Methods: Vaccines from Sinopharm (BBIBP-CorV), Janssen (JNJ-78436735), Gamaleya Institute (Gam-COVID-Vac), Sinovac (CoronaVac), CanSino (Convidecia), AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), Moderna (mRNA-1273), and Pfizer (BNT162b2) were evaluated, according to their availability in each country. The health system perspective was adopted, so that only direct health care costs were included. The time horizon adopted took into account the implementation times of each vaccination plan, excluding children under 16 years of age and pregnant persons. The following costs were included: cost of vaccination/vaccine administration and costs of hospitalization (general isolation, stepdown care, and intensive care). Two vaccination scenarios were compared: 1) population wanting to be vaccinated (according to national surveys); and 2) population that should be vaccinated (total population susceptible to vaccination). The aggregate costs for each vaccination scenario were compared with the no-vaccination scenario. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were also performed., Results: The different COVID-19 vaccination regimens available in Latin America generate potential savings ranging from USD 100 million to USD 1.5 billion per country for the 2021-2022 biennium, assuming that the vaccination plan proposed for each country is fully implemented., Conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination is a strategy that not only reduces morbidity and mortality in Latin America, but also generates potential savings for health systems in the region.