PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre Spotlight Series
Reference Number: CUB-18
Official Title: PAHO/WHO CC for the Study and Control of Dengue
Institution: Dengue Laboratory, Institute of Tropical Medicine “Pedro Kouri”
Category 1 (SP 14-19)
Outcome 4 (SP 20-25)
Dr. Jose Luis San Martin, Regional Advisor, Dengue Prevention and Control, is the PAHO staff member who acts as the Region’s focal point to coordinate the collaboration between the institution and the Organization.
The main activities for this Centre include: (1) offering courses on dengue; (2) training professionals on clinical diagnosis and management of dengue and other arboviruses; and (3) supporting the development of multiple guidelines on dengue and arboviruses.
The Centre offers a two-week International Course on Dengue, Zika and other Emergent Arboviruses every two years (most recently in August 2019) to train 300-400 professionals from around the world, 8-9 who are PAHO staff. The course focuses on theoretical components and practical experiences of dengue. In June 2019, the Centre also provided a workshop for Caribbean countries to train staff on clinical diagnosis and management of dengue and other arboviruses. This Centre also has a strong clinical capacity and was involved in the development of clinical guidelines and the arbovirus instrument for patient care, the first guideline for arbovirus in the world. They have also contributed to publications including Tools for the diagnosis and care of patients with suspected arboviral disease and Dengue: guidelines for patient care in the Region of the Americas 2nd edition. Lastly, the Centre participated in the ViGenDA project for dengue arbovirus genomic surveillance. The final objective of this project is to produce a genomic map illustrating the distribution of the four types of dengue and their genomic subcategories in the Americas.
Currently, the Centre is developing and editing the Manual of Support for Training in the Prevention and Integral Control of Dengue in the Context of Circulation of other Arboviruses. The manual will focus on three main aspects: risk communication, clinical capacity and vector control.
According to Dr. San Martin, this Centre is “one of the most important Collaborating Centres [on] dengue in the world.”
Webnotes such as these serve to inform on how CCs are contributing to the Organization’s priorities and mandates.