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Volume 5, Number 3—June 1999
Perspective

The Cost Effectiveness of Vaccinating against Lyme Disease

Martin I. MeltzerComments to Author , David T. Dennis, and Kathleen A. Orloski
Author affiliations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Main Article

Table 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.

Main Article

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The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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