Cost of Illness Due to Severe Enteric Fever in India
Dilesh Kumar, Atul Sharma, Saroj Kumar Rana, Shankar Prinja, Karthikeyan Ramanujam, Arun S Karthikeyan, Reshma Raju, Swathi Krishna Njarekkattuvalappil, Prasanna Samuel, Akashdeep Singh Chauhan, Venkata Raghava Mohan, Sheena Evelyn Ebenezer, M. Thomas, Madhu Gupta, Ashita Singh, Dasaratha Ramaiah Jinka, Shajin Thankaraj, Roshine Mary Koshy, Christina Dhas Sankhro, Arti Kapil, Jayanthi Shastri, Karnika Saigal, Sulochana Putli Bai Perumal, Savitha Nagaraj, Shalini Anandan, Maria Thomas, Pallab Ray, Jacob John, Gagandeep Kang
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Lack of robust data on economic burden due to enteric fever in India has made decision making on typhoid vaccination a challenge. Surveillance for Enteric Fever network was established to address gaps in typhoid disease and economic burden. METHODS: Patients hospitalized with blood culture-confirmed enteric fever and nontraumatic ileal perforation were identified at 14 hospitals. These sites represent urban referral hospitals (tier 3) and smaller hospitals in urban slums, remote rural, and tribal settings (tier 2). Cost of illness and productivity loss data from onset to 28 days after discharge from hospital were collected using a structured questionnaire. The direct and indirect costs of an illness episode were analyzed by type of setting. RESULTS: In total, 274 patients from tier 2 surveillance, 891 patients from tier 3 surveillance, and 110 ileal perforation patients provided the cost of illness data. The mean direct cost of severe enteric fever was US$119.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], US$85.8-152.4) in tier 2 and US$405.7 (95% CI, 366.9-444.4) in tier 3; 16.9% of patients in tier 3 experienced catastrophic expenditure. CONCLUSIONS: The cost of treating enteric fever is considerable and likely to increase with emerging antimicrobial resistance. Equitable preventive strategies are urgently needed.