Economic burden of dengue fever in China: A retrospective research study

Background: Dengue fever has been a significant public health challenge in China. This will be particularly important in the context of global warming, frequent international travels, and urbanization with increasing city size and population movement. In order to design relevant prevention and control strategies and allocate health resources reasonably, this study evaluated the economic burden of dengue fever in China in 2019. Methods: The economic burden of dengue fever patients was calculated from both family and the organisation perspectives. A survey was conducted among 1,027 dengue fever patients in Zhejiang, Chongqing, and Yunnan Provinces. Treatment expenses, lost working days, and insurance reimbursement expenses information were collected to estimate the total economic burden of dengue fever patients in 2019. The expenditures related to dengue fever prevention and control from government, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), communities and subdistrict offices of 30 counties (or districts) in Zhejiang Province and Chongqing City were also collected. Results: The direct, indirect and total economic burden for dengue fever patients in 2019 in the three Provinces were about 36,927,380.00 Chinese Yuan (CNY), 10,579,572.00 CNY and 46,805,064.00 CNY, respectively. The costs for prevention and control of dengue fever for the counties (or districts) without cases, counties (or districts) with imported cases, and counties (or districts) with local cases are 205,800.00 CNY, 731,180.00 CNY and 6,934,378.00 CNY, respectively. The total investment of dengue fever prevention and control in the 30 counties in China in 2019 was approximately 3,166,660,240.00 CNY. Conclusion: The economic burden of dengue fever patients is relatively high, and medical insurance coverage should be increased to lighten patients’ direct medical economic burden. At the same time, the results suggests that China should increase funding for primary health service institutions to prevent dengue fever transmission. Author summary: Dengue fever is one of the most important arbovirus diseases in the world. The distribution of cases has also increased significantly with the number of affected areas the highest in history. Dengue fever mainly occurs in southern provinces in China and its epidemic showed a trend of high incidence in 2019. This study estimated the economic burden of dengue fever in China in 2019 from the perspectives of both family and organisation. We recruited 1,027 dengue fever patients from Zhejiang Province, Chongqing City and Yunnan Province. At the same time, the costs related to dengue fever prevention and control from governments, CDCs, communities and subdistrict offices of 30 counties located in Zhejiang Province and Chongqing City were also collected. The results showed that in family perspective, the total economic burden of dengue in 2019 is estimated to be 46,805,064.00 CNY. In terms of organization expenditures, the regions with a higher incidence had higher costs.