Assessment of the economic damage caused by varicella disease in children aged 0–17 years in the Altai Territory

Abstract

Introduction. In modern conditions, the economic analysis of the damage caused by varicella (chickenpox) is of particular importance, as it contributes to the adoption of management decisions aimed to achieve the maximum medical preventive effect.Purpose: to assess the economic damage caused by the varicella disease in children aged 0–17 years in the Altai Territory.Materials and methods. To estimate the costs, we used data on the incidence of varicella obtained in our previous studies, tariffs of the Territorial Compulsory Health Insurance Fund for the Altai Territory, data on the gross regional product, as well as data from a survey of parents of patients with varicella. The study was conducted based on two polyclinics in Barnaul (for outpatient patients) and the children's infectious diseases department of the Barnaul City Clinical Hospital (for hospitalized patients) for one calendar year (July 2019 – June 2020).Results. The estimated damage caused by varicella per one year in the Altai Territory amounted to 31,527,294.87 rubles, of which 42% are expenses from the own funds of citizens (parents of children with varicella). The cost of parents' personal funds for the treatment of one outpatient case of varicella averaged 3125.4 rubles, and of inpatient case — 2705.4 rubles.Conclusions. The expenses of the government and citizens of the Altai Territory for the treatment of varicella are very large and the disease cannot be controlled by existing preventive measures, as evidenced by consistently high incidence rates. In this regard, an accurate assessment of economic damage is necessary for proper management decisions on the introduction of new preventive measures, including vaccination.