Abstract
Dengue is an acute viral or viral haemorrhagic fever caused by a flavivirus of four well-known serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4). Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes transmit DENV, which causes symptomatic dengue in some infected individuals and asymptomatic infection in others. Although Sri Lanka has been experiencing dengue outbreaks since 1960, the disease burden and severity has increased in the last two decades, contributing to significant morbidity and mortality in the island. Innovative strategic methods must be planned and implemented for effective dengue control, targeting dengue vectors via multiple methods. Some recent developments in vector control include the use of insecticide-treated long lasting mosquito nets, lethal ovitraps, spatial repellents, genetically modified mosquitoes and Wolbachia-infected Aedes. Some of these new methods might play an important role in the long-term prevention and control of dengue. The current review highlights the importance of pooling existing knowledge and resources to work on capacity building using all available human and financial resources to optimize the vector control programme. These efforts would facilitate and improve regional cooperation, foster networking and encourage sustainable co-ordination to retain effective control methods. Motivated staff working on vector control, prediction models such as geographic information systems (GIS) to detect future dengue outbreaks and coordination of control methods in risk areas within a country or implementing country-wide specific strategic control measures will be crucial to reduce the existing dengue burden