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OBJECTIVES: The incidence of hepatitis A infections among young adults has recently increased in South Korea. Although universal vaccination has often been suggested to mitigate the problem, its rationale has not been well-understood. Estimating the societal costs of hepatitis A infections might support the development of intervention strategies. METHODS: We classified hepatitis A infections into eight clinical pathways and estimated the number of occurrences and cost per case for each clinical pathway using claim data from National Health Insurance and several national surveys as well as assumptions based on previous studies. To determine the total costs of a hepatitis A infection, both direct and indirect costs were estimated. Indirect costs were estimated using the human-capital approach. All costs are adjusted to the year 2008. RESULTS: There were 30,240 identified cases of hepatitis A infections in 2008 for a total cost of 80,873 million won (2.7 million won per case). Direct and indirect costs constituted 56.2% and 43.8% of the total costs, respectively. People aged 20-39 accounted for 71.3% of total cases and 74.6% of total costs. Medical costs per capita were the lowest in the 0-4 age group and highest in the 20-29 age group. CONCLUSIONS: This study could provide evidence for development of cost-effective interventions to control hepatitis A infections. But the true costs including uncaptured and intangible costs of hepatitis A infections might be higher than our results indicate.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: In December 2010, there was an outbreak of acute febrile respiratory disease in many Korean military camps that were not geographically related. A laboratory analysis confirmed a number of these cases to be infected by the pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 (H1N1pdm09) virus. Because mass vaccination against H1N1pdm09 was implemented at the infected military camps eleven months ago, the outbreak areas in which both vaccinated and nonvaccinated individuals were well mixed, gave us an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of H1N1pdm09 vaccine through a retrospective cohort study design. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the three military camps in which the outbreak occurred for case detection, determination of vaccination status, and characterization of other risk factors. The overall response rate was 86.8% (395/455). Case was defined as fever (≥38 °C) with cough or sore throat, influenza-like illness (ILI), and vaccination status verified by vaccination registry. Crude vaccine effectiveness (VE) was calculated as "1 - attack rate in vaccinated individuals/attack rate in nonvaccinated individuals", and adjusted VE was calculated as "1 - odds ratio" using logistic regression adjusted for potential confounding factor. A number of ILI definitions were used to test the robustness of the result. RESULTS: The attack rate of ILI was 12.8% in register-verified vaccinated individuals and 24.0% in nonvaccinated individuals. The crude VE was thus calculated to be 46.8% [95% confidence interval (CI): 14.5-66.9]. The adjusted VE rate was 46.8% (95% CI: -9.4 to 74.1). Various combinations of ILI symptoms also showed similar VE rates. CONCLUSION: We evaluated the effectiveness of H1N1pdm09 vaccine in the 2010-2011 season in an outbreak setting. Although the result was not sensitive to any analytical method used and ILI case definition, the magnitude of effectiveness was lower than estimated in the 2009-2010 season.
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PURPOSE: To examine delivery type of mother who have had a previous cesarean and identify maternal factors related to type of delivery. METHODS: The study sample included 60,504 mothers who had delivered through cesarean section. Related variables were categorized as sociodemographic factors (age, residence, health insurance type, income level) and clinical characteristics (14 maternal factor, 4 fetal factor and pre-term). For data analysis, chi2 and multivariate logistic regression were conducted. RESULTS: Among the 60,504mothers, 3,075 were delivered through Vaginal Birth After C-Section (VBAC) and the VBAC rate was 5.1%. Underage 34, the VBAC rate increased according to age increases up to 3%. Mothers residing in urban areas had VBAC more frequently than mothers in rural area. Mothers in the high and middle income levels had a greater possibility of having VBAC than mothers in lower income levels. A greater likelihood of increase in repeated cesarean section were found in mothers with maternal and fetal factors. CONCLUSION: Evidence based nursing practice guidelines and education programs for previous cesarean section mothers and health policy are needed to increase VBAC.
