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.
de Greeff
Sabine C
SC
Epidemiology and Surveillance, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. sabine.de.greeff@rivm.nl
Lugnér
Anna K
AK
van den Heuvel
Danielle M
DM
Mooi
Frits R
FR
de Melker
Hester E
HE
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