Prof. Donald Shepard and research associate Yara Halasa, of the Heller School for Social Management and Policy published a study in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene on Feb. 4 in which they calculated the financial impact of the Dengue Virus in the Americas to be $2.1 billion annually. The Dengue Virus is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that has been common in the Americas, Africa and Asia, putting about two-fifths of the world population at risk. While there is neither a cure nor a vaccine for the virus, basic medical treatment can help some cases. Untreated cases can become more severe as the virus becomes hemorrhagic and can be devastating, especially in places with subpar medical facilities, according to the World Health Organization.

The research was completed with the help of three other contributing authors from Sanofi Pasteur, an independent French pharmaceutical company. The projection of the costs of the effects of Dengue exceed both the Human Papilomavirus and the Rotavirus, according to the study. In a joint interview with the Justice, Shepard and Halasa said that the goal of their research was to influence policy makers to take preventative action and that presenting it from an economic perspective would be most effective.

In order to calculate the figure of $2.1 billion, Shepard, Halasa and their associates assessed the economic burden of individual cases by analyzing four major factors: the number of cases while factoring in a certain amount of underreporting; the direct and indirect costs of each case; the demographic information of each country; and the disability-adjusted life years, or the years of potential productivity lost due to the disease. Direct costs relate to the immediate costs of health care and ambulatory aid, said Shepard and Halasa, while indirect costs refer to the financial quantity of production that is lost with each individual case.

Shepard has been studying the cost-effectiveness of a variety of strategies for maintaining the spread of Dengue for the last 20 years, but he only began the current phase of research 2 years ago. He said they must have looked into hundreds of thousands of cases throughout the Americas.

According to the study, 50 to 100 million people worldwide could be infected with the virus. Of those, an estimated 24,000 will pass away from Dengue annually.

The disease itself is not limited to developing countries. In 2009, Shepard said, Florida experienced a significant outbreak of the disease.

Shepard and Halasa said that the best way to prevent the spread of the disease throughout the States is to eliminate potential breeding places that hold stagnant water for the mosquito, such as old tires and outdoor potted plants.

In 2004, Mironda Heston '04, who had only months prior graduated with a master's from the Heller School of Sustainable International Development, passed away after contracting the virus while in Haiti on a medical mission.

Heston's fascination with Haiti began at a young age when her mother would bring her on her own medical missions, said Shepard who has been in contact with Heston's sister, mother and friends among the faculty.

The medical center that Heston helped to establish in Paypaye, Haiti was named in her honor after she passed. Additionally, her graduating class of the SID program set up a scholarship fund in her honor.