Volume 5, Number 3—June 1999
Perspective
The Cost Effectiveness of Vaccinating against Lyme Disease
, David T. Dennis, and Kathleen A. OrloskiTable 2
Costs of treating one case of Lyme disease and the sequelae due to early and late disseminated disease
| Item | Cost/year ($) | Length of treatment | Total costsa ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case resolved: no sequelae | |||
| Antibiotics | 14 | ||
| Office visits (2) | 50 | ||
| Laboratory tests | 35 | ||
| 5 hrs lost work time | 62 | ||
| Total | 161 | 2-3 wks | 161 |
| Sequelaeb due to early and late disseminated disease | |||
| Cardiac-directc | 5,445 | ||
| Cardiac-indirectd | 1,400 | ||
| Cardiac-total | 6,845 | < 1 yr | 6,845 |
| Neurologic-directc | 4,865 | ||
| Neurologic-indirectd | 2,100 | ||
| Neurologic-total | 6,965 | 11 yrs | 61,243 |
| Arthritic-directc | 1,804 | ||
| Arthritic-indirectd | 2,100 | ||
| Arthritic-total | 3,904 | 11 yrs | 34,354 |
aAll costs that occur over more than 1 year are discounted at a rate of 3% per year.
bSee text for description of the sequelae.
cDirect costs are for all medical costs and are derived from the 1-year charges reported by Magid et al. (29), inflated to 1996 dollars (factor of 1.528) (40), and then adjusted by a cost-to-charge ratio of 0.53 (43) (see text for details).
dIndirect costs are the valuation of lost productivity due to Lyme disease-related illness, with each day lost valued at $100. For cardiac-related sequelae, it was assumed that 14 workdays were lost, and for neurologic and arthritic-related sequelae, it was assumed that 21 workdays were lost each year.
