Bardach Ariel, Ballivian Jamile, Moreno Carolina, Navarro Emiliano, Luxardo Rosario, Kyaw Moe H, Spinardi Julia, Mendoza Carlos Fernando, Carballo Carolina M, Loudet Cecilia I, Espinola Natalia
Department of Health Technology Assessment and Health Economics, Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy (IECS), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Centro de Investigaciones Epidemiológicas y Salud Pública (CIESP-IECS) CONICET, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Department of Health Technology Assessment and Health Economics, Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy (IECS), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Value Health Reg Issues. 2025 Jul;48:101137. doi: 10.1016/j.vhri.2025.101137. Epub 2025 Jun 2.
The impact of COVID-19 in Argentina's health and economic outcomes before the implementation of the national vaccination plan has not been fully characterized. This study aimed to estimate the health and economic burden of COVID-19 in the adult population in Argentina.
We conducted a retrospective observational study using a national COVID-19 surveillance data set to assess (1) clinical burden, including incidence rates, mortality rates, and patterns of hospitalization categorized by severity based on the World Health Organization criteria; (2) economic burden; and (3) years of life lost. The cost of illness analysis was used to estimate the cost per patient with COVID-19, expressed in 2023 US dollars ($). The analyzed period was from March 2020 to June 2021, before the introduction of the vaccination as a national strategic plan for COVID-19.
During the study period, the incidence rate of COVID-19 among the adult population in Argentina was 11 490.2 cases per 100 000 persons. As in many other countries in the region, most cases were classified as mild (95%), followed by 4% severe cases (requiring hospitalization) and 1% critical cases (intensive care unit [ICU] admission). The age-standardized years of life lost per 100 000 persons increased steeply from 58.6 in the 20 to 29 age group to 576.1 in the 60 to 69 age group. The total cost associated with COVID-19 was $1370 million, ranging from $244 in mild cases to $791 in critical cases. Concerning the health sectors, a higher total cost is observed in the social security sector, accounting for nearly 51% of the total costs, mainly because it has the highest rate of health coverage.
Before the vaccines were widely used, COVID-19 significantly strained Argentina's public health and economy. These discoveries can aid policy makers in making well-informed choices and distributing resources efficiently to enhance future national strategies concerning surveillance, prevention, treatment, and potential long-term impacts on community health.
在国家疫苗接种计划实施之前，新冠病毒病（COVID-19）对阿根廷健康和经济成果的影响尚未得到充分描述。本研究旨在估计COVID-19对阿根廷成年人口造成的健康和经济负担。
我们利用国家COVID-19监测数据集进行了一项回顾性观察研究，以评估：（1）临床负担，包括发病率、死亡率以及根据世界卫生组织标准按严重程度分类的住院模式；（2）经济负担；以及（3）生命年损失。疾病成本分析用于估计每例COVID-19患者的成本，以2023年美元（$）表示。分析期为2020年3月至2021年6月，即COVID-19国家战略计划引入疫苗之前。
在研究期间，阿根廷成年人口中COVID-19的发病率为每10万人11490.2例。与该地区许多其他国家一样，大多数病例被归类为轻症（95%），其次是4%的重症病例（需要住院治疗）和1%的危重症病例（入住重症监护病房[ICU]）。每10万人中年龄标准化的生命年损失从20至29岁年龄组的58.6急剧增加到60至69岁年龄组的576.1。与COVID-19相关的总成本为13.7亿美元，轻症病例为244美元，危重症病例为791美元。在卫生部门方面，社会保障部门的总成本更高，占总成本的近51%，主要是因为其医保覆盖率最高。
在疫苗广泛使用之前，COVID-19给阿根廷的公共卫生和经济带来了巨大压力。这些发现有助于政策制定者做出明智决策并有效分配资源，以加强未来有关监测、预防、治疗以及对社区健康潜在长期影响的国家战略。
