IDAMS

About IDAMS

Title: International Research Consortium on Dengue Risk Assessment, Management and Surveillance

Acronym: IDAMS

Grant agreement number: 281803

EC contribution: 5.999.213 €

Duration: 66 months Starting date: 01/09/2011

Funding scheme: Collaborative Project (small‐ or medium‐scale focused research project) for specific international cooperation actions (SICA)

Dengue is an emerging disease of major global significance and represents an enormous burden for health care systems in endemic countries. Differentiating dengue from other common febrile illnesses before complications develop is difficult - simple and inxpensive strategies are urgently needed to support early and accurate diagnosis, as well as to identify patients at high risk of developing complications, in order both to improve case management and to facilitate appropriate use of limited resources. Evaluation of early clinical features alongside readily available laboratory tests in a large cohort of patients encompassing the breadth of dengue disease encountered in endemic settings is necessary to develop a robust case definiton for dengue, and could also prove to be very useful for the development of prognostic algorithms. Early detecion of outbreaks, with improved surveillance systems and a prompt response to imminent outbreaks, could prove highly effective in reducing the numbers of dengue cases globally. In combination with identification of areas likely to be at risk of dengue outbreaks, as defined by risk mapping, such strategies could bring great health benefits by preventing outbreaks and reducing numbers of cases, with consequent reductions in overall morbidity and mortality from dengue.

In the IDAMS project a consortium of international experts work together to develop new and innovative tools to be applied to the control of dengue in a global context and aims at:improving diagnosis and clinical management of dengue through two linked work packages designed a) to identify readily available clinical and laboratory parameters and/or viral and immunological markers, that differentiate between dengue and other common febrile illness within 3 days of fever onset, and b) to identify any of the available markers that are predictive of the likelihood of evolving to a more severe disease course
assessing the risk of dengue spread through linked work packages focused on a) mapping and modelling techniques to define the current extent of dengue disease globally and to evaluate possible scenarios of spread or risk to previously uninfected regions in the future, and b) developing effective and affordable early warning and outbreak response systems.

These four work packages are supported by a fifth work package dedicated to networking and translational activities to ensure that outputs from the various research activities are used to maximal advantage. Finally a sixth work package will focus on administrative issues, ensuring that reports, financial statements etc. are prepared and submitted in time. The structure of the 6 work packages is illustrated below.