Journal
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND INFECTION
Volume 140, Issue 11, Pages 2096-2109Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0950268811002640
Keywords
Ambulatory; cost; hospitalization; QALY; shingles; varicella
Funding
- Belgian Health Care Knowledge Center
- Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders
- University of Antwerp
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Varicella-zoster virus causes chickenpox (CP) and after reactivation herpes zoster (HZ). Vaccines are available against both diseases warranting an assessment of the pre-vaccination burden of disease. We collected data from relevant Belgian databases and performed five surveys of CP and HZ patients. The rates at which a general practitioner is visited at least once for CP and HZ are 346 and 378/100 000 person-years, respectively. The average CP and HZ hospitalization rates are 5.3 and 14.2/100 000 person-years respectively. The direct medical cost for HZ is about twice as large as the direct medical cost for CP. The quality-adjusted life years lost for ambulatory CP patients consulting a physician is more than double that of those not consulting a physician (0.010 vs. 0.004). In conclusion, both diseases cause a substantial burden in Belgium.
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