title: Impact and costs of varicella prevention in a university hospital.
abstract: Information regarding all patient and staff exposures to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) was prospectively accumulated from 1/1/86 to 12/31/86 at North Carolina Memorial Hospital. During this period of time 37 sources of exposure to VZV were reported: 10 outside and 27 within the hospital. Index cases for nosocomial exposure included: 12 patients with zoster, 9 patients with varicella, two staff with varicella, three visitors with varicella, and one staff with zoster. One hundred and twenty patients received nosocomial exposures; 28 had no history of VZV infection (23 per cent), of whom 11 were serosusceptible (39 per cent). Sources of nosocomial patient exposure included: other patients (85 per cent), staff (14 per cent), and a single visitor (1 per cent). More than 300 employees received nosocomial exposure; 158 had no history of VZV infection, of whom 49 were serosusceptible (31 per cent). Only a single employee and no patients developed clinical varicella as a result of nosocomial exposure. Costs associated with VZV control during 1986 totaled $55,934: $39,658 for work furloughs, $9,800 for serologies, $4,293 for patient isolation, $155 for varicella-zoster immune globulin, and $2,028 for infection control personnel time. These costs should be considered as part of any benefit-cost analysis of varicella immunization of health care personnel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill 27514.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Rutala
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parham
mesh_terms: D002644:Chickenpox / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D009657:North Carolina; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014789:Visitors to Patients
chemical_list: D014765:Viral Vaccines