Economic analysis of pertussis illness in the Dutch population: implications for current and future vaccination strategies.
To reduce pertussis disease burden new vaccination strategies are considered in many countries. Since not only health benefits, but also economical aspects play a role when introducing new vaccinations, we estimated medical costs of pertussis in the Netherlands. Besides, we retrospectively performed a cost-utility analysis of the preschool booster introduced in 2001. Our results show that annual costs for pertussis are still considerable (approximately c.1.77 million for a population of 16 million). Although infants represented only 5% of cases, they accounted for 50% of the total costs. Hence, the economic burden of pertussis is largely determined by costs per infant case (c.1490) and only to a limited degree by costs per patient in other age-groups (circa c.75). Despite a substantial reduction in the number of cases, the preschool booster was not considered cost-effective. The effectiveness of universal adolescent or adult booster strategies -- to prevent pertussis in infants -- should also be considered from an economical point of view before being implemented.
Epidemiology and Surveillance, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. sabine.de.greeff@rivm.nl
Sabine C
SC
de Greeff
Anna K
AK
Lugnér
Danielle M
DM
van den Heuvel
Frits R
FR
Mooi
Hester E
HE
de Melker
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000191:economics*; D007117:Immunization, Secondary / Q000191:economics; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010567:Pertussis Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000191:economics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014917:Whooping Cough / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D055815:Young Adult
D010567:Pertussis Vaccine