Volume 6, Number 3—June 2000
Dispatch
Costs and Benefits of a Subtype-Specific Surveillance System for Identifying Escherichia coli O157:H7 Outbreaks
Elamin H. Elbasha*
, Thomas D. Fitzsimmons*†, and Martin I. Meltzer*
, Thomas D. Fitzsimmons*†, and Martin I. Meltzer*Table 3
Discounted costs of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection, discounted costs of the surveillance system, and threshold number of cases, 1996
| Discount Ratea |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| 3% | 0% | 5% | |
| Discounted average cost of an E. coli O157:H7 infection | $7,788 | $15,927 | $5,847 |
| Discounted costs of installing and operating the system | $182,042 | $192,000 | $176,018 |
| Baseline (best estimate) | |||
| Cases that need to be averted every year for 5 yearsb | 5.0 | 2.4 | 6.6 |
| Cases that need to be averted in the first year alonec | 14.2 | 7.2 | 18.5 |
| One-way sensitivity analysis | |||
| Increasing labor and equipment costs from $20,000 to $50,000 | |||
| Cases that need to be averted every year for 5 yearsb | 6.4 | 3.1 | 8.6 |
| Cases that need to be averted in the first year alonec | 20.9 | 10.6 | 27.2 |
| Decreasing the costs of an infection from $7,788 to $3,894 | |||
| Cases that need to be averted every year for 5 yearsb | 9.9 | 4.8 | 13.2 |
| Cases that need to be averted in the first year alonec | 28.4 | 14.5 | 36.9 |
| Increasing the probability of death from 0.4% to 2.3% | |||
| Cases that need to be averted every year for 5 yearsb | 1.5 | 0.5 | 2.6 |
| Cases that need to be averted in the first year alonec | 4.3 | 1.5 | 7.3 |
aThe most frequently assumed discount rate is 5%. However, 3% is the recommended rate. No discounting is suggested for testing the sensitivity of the results (10).
bThreshold number of cases averted every year for 5 years above which the system is cost-beneficial.
cThreshold number of cases averted in the first year above which the system is cost-beneficial, assuming the system does not avert any cases in subsequent years and continues to incur costs.
