Melgar Mario, Sajmolo Ingrid, Chocó André, Ortiz Lidia, Cordova Ana Gabriela, Hernández Luis, Rivera Irwing, Zuñiga Ashly, Beltrán Claudia, Medina Sebastian, Marcano-Lozada Marcel
Centro de Estudios Clínicos Salud Avanzada, Guatemala, Guatemala.
Hospital Roosevelt, Guatemala, Guatemala.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025 Jan 24;5(1):e0004165. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0004165. eCollection 2025.
Varicella presents a public health challenge in Guatemala, with limited evidence regarding its impact; vaccine is currently absent from the national immunization program. Generating local data on the economic and health burden can support immunization policies. This study describes the use of hospital resources, costs of care, clinical and demographic characteristics, and complications in children with varicella. A retrospective review of medical records from patients admitted in four public institutions in Guatemala between January 2015 and December 2019, with diagnosis of varicella was performed. A total of 124 hospitalized patients, aged 0 to 14 years, were analyzed, of whom 46% had cancer. The average cost of hospitalization was USD 3,793.24 for complicated cases and USD 1,131.11 for uncomplicated cases. The average hospital stay was 11 days for patients with complications and 5 days for those without complications. In total, 66.1% of patients presented complications, with related infection complications being the most common. In conclusion, hospitalizations for varicella impose a significant economic and clinical burden in Guatemala. Complications increase the cost of care by three times, highlighting the importance of considering the inclusion of the varicella vaccine in the National Immunization Program to prevent the disease.
水痘在危地马拉构成了一项公共卫生挑战，但其影响方面的证据有限；该国国家免疫规划目前未纳入水痘疫苗。收集关于经济和健康负担的本地数据有助于制定免疫政策。本研究描述了水痘患儿的医院资源使用情况、护理成本、临床和人口统计学特征以及并发症情况。对2015年1月至2019年12月期间在危地马拉四家公共机构住院且诊断为水痘的患者病历进行了回顾性分析。共分析了124名0至14岁的住院患者，其中46%患有癌症。复杂病例的平均住院费用为3793.24美元，非复杂病例为1131.11美元。有并发症的患者平均住院时间为11天，无并发症的患者为5天。总体而言，66.1%的患者出现了并发症，其中相关感染并发症最为常见。总之，在危地马拉，水痘住院造成了重大的经济和临床负担。并发症使护理成本增加了两倍，凸显了考虑将水痘疫苗纳入国家免疫规划以预防该疾病的重要性。
