Effectiveness of net covers on water storage tanks for the control of dengue vectors in Sri Lanka.

Abstract

Dengue fever/dengue haemorrhagic fever (DF/DHF) is an important public health problem in Sri Lanka since early 1990s. From the years 2000–08, the reported number of suspected and serologically positive DF/ DHF cases varied from 4749 to 15,643 involving 25–88 deaths, with a major epidemic in 2004. At present, the disease is prevalent in many urban and semi-urban areas of the country with higher incidence in Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kurunegala, Kegalle, Ratnapura and Kandy districts1. In addition to DF/DHF, the country experienced several outbreaks/epidemics of chikungunya since mid-2006 involving several thousands of cases per episode2.