The health and economic burden of chickenpox and herpes zoster in Belgium

Abstract

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.

Perspectives on optimal control of varicella and herpes zoster by mass routine varicella vaccination

“…Moreover, though the adopted epidemiological model is fully age-structured, we used fixed, age-independent costs of varicella and HZ. As such costs are known to be age-dependent [33,34], this is a potential limitation requiring careful investigation.…”

“…[33,34]. The discount rate was set to r ¼ 0.03/year [34]. The coverage control function u(t) is allowed to vary across different years between a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 90%, i.e.…”

Varicella-zoster virus vaccination under the exogenous boosting hypothesis: Two ethical perspectives

“…However, the difference in severity between shingles and chickenpox might not be big enough to call this sacrifice an unreasonable demand. Despite shingles presenting on average a more severe clinical image than chickenpox, the effects are only rarely leading to fatalities or permanent disability (Bilcke, Ogunjimi et al 2012). In other contexts (e.g.…”

“…This reemergence of the virus can be assumed to be a consequence of waning cellular immunity. Shingles is characterized by a painful rash on the body and causes on average a more severe and longer-lasting loss of quality of life than chickenpox (Bilcke, Ogunjimi et al 2012). …”

Public Health in Primary Care

“…PCPs can be effective in preventing infectious disease through health education, by informing patients on preventative practices. One of the key domains in this regard is vaccination against traditional diseases such as tetanus toxoid, hepatitis B, mumps, measles, rubella, diphtheria, polio, meningitis, Haemophilus influenza, pneumococcus, yellow fever and (more recently) varicella [Bilcke 2012]. Proper vaccination, especially against continuing and emerging-related diseases remains an important area for PCPs, frequently forgotten with consideration given to more high technology activities [Venkat 2012].…”