Ho Yi-Chien, Lee Pei-Lun, Wang Yu-Chiao, Chen Shiou-Chien, Chen Kow-Tong
a Department of Cosmetic Applications and Management/Holistic Education Center; Cardinal Tien Junior College of Healthcare and Management ; Taipei , Taiwan.
Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2015;11(5):1081-7. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2015.1023969.
Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and pneumonia are the major causes of morbidity and deaths in children in the world. The management of IPD and pneumonia is an important economic burden on healthcare systems and families. The aim of this study was to assess the economic burden of IPD and pneumonia among younger children in Taiwan. We used a cost-illness approach to identify the cost categories for analysis in this study according to various perspectives. We obtained data of admission, outpatient, and emergency department visit data from the National Health Insurance Research (NHIR) database for children <5 y of age between January 2008 and December 2008. A prospective survey was administered to the families of patients to obtain detailed personal costs. All costs are presented in US dollars and were estimated by extrapolating 2008 cost data to 2013 price levels. We estimated the number of pneumococcal disease cases that were averted if the PCV-13 vaccine had been available in 2008. The total annual social and hospital costs for IPD were US $4.3 million and US $926,000, respectively. The total annual social and hospital costs for pneumonia were US $150 million and US $17 million, respectively. On average, families spent US $653 or US $218 when their child was diagnosed with IPD or pneumonia, respectively. This cost is approximately 27%-81% of the monthly salary of an unskilled worker. In conclusion, a safe and effective pediatric pneumococcal vaccine is needed to reduce the economic burden caused by pneumococcal infection.
侵袭性肺炎球菌病（IPD）和肺炎是全球儿童发病和死亡的主要原因。IPD和肺炎的治疗给医疗系统和家庭带来了沉重的经济负担。本研究旨在评估台湾年幼儿童中IPD和肺炎的经济负担。我们采用成本-疾病方法，从不同角度确定本研究中用于分析的成本类别。我们从国民健康保险研究（NHIR）数据库获取了2008年1月至2008年12月期间5岁以下儿童的住院、门诊和急诊科就诊数据。对患者家庭进行了一项前瞻性调查，以获取详细的个人成本。所有成本均以美元表示，并通过将2008年成本数据推算至2013年价格水平进行估算。我们估计了如果2008年已有13价肺炎球菌结合疫苗（PCV-13），可避免的肺炎球菌病病例数。IPD每年的社会总成本和医院成本分别为430万美元和92.6万美元。肺炎每年的社会总成本和医院成本分别为1.5亿美元和1700万美元。平均而言，当孩子被诊断为IPD或肺炎时，家庭分别花费653美元或218美元。这笔费用约占非技术工人月工资的27%-81%。总之，需要一种安全有效的儿童肺炎球菌疫苗来减轻肺炎球菌感染造成的经济负担。
