Estimating health service utilization for treatment of pneumococcal disease: the case of Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Health service utilization (HSU) is an essential component of economic evaluations of health initiatives. Defining HSU for cases of pneumococcal disease (PD) is particularly complex considering the varying clinical manifestations and diverse severity. OBJECTIVE: We describe the process of developing estimates of HSU for PD as part of an economic evaluation of the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Brazil. METHODS: Nationwide inpatient and outpatient HSU by children under-5 years with meningitis (PM), sepsis (PS), non-meningitis non-sepsis invasive PD (NMNS), pneumonia, and acute otitis media (AOM) was estimated. We assumed that all cases of invasive PD (PM, PS, and NMNS) required hospitalization. The study perspective was the health system, including both the public and private sectors. Data sources were obtained from national health information systems, including the Hospital Information System (SIH/SUS) and the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN); surveys; and community-based and health care facility-based studies. RESULTS: We estimated hospitalization rates of 7.69 per 100,000 children under-5 years for PM (21.4 for children <1 years of age and 4.3 for children aged 1-4 years), 5.89 for PS (20.94 and 2.17), and 4.01 for NMNS (5.5 and 3.64) in 2004, with an overall hospitalization rate of 17.59 for all invasive PD (47.27 and 10.11). The estimated incidence rate of all-cause pneumonia was 93.4 per 1000 children under-5 (142.8 for children <1 years of age and 81.2 for children aged 1-4 years), considering both hospital and outpatient care. DISCUSSION: Secondary data derived from health information systems and the available literature enabled the development of national HSU estimates for PD in Brazil. Estimating HSU for noninvasive disease was challenging, particularly in the case of outpatient care, for which secondary data are scarce. Information for the private sector is lacking in Brazil, but estimates were possible with data from the public sector and national population surveys.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of universal childhood vaccination against varicella in Brazil.

This study conducts a cost-effectiveness analysis of a childhood universal varicella vaccination program in Brazil. An age and time-dependent dynamic model was developed to estimate the incidence of varicella for 30 years. Assuming a single-dose schedule; vaccine efficacy of 85% and coverage of 80%, the program could prevent 74,422,058 cases and 2905 deaths. It would cost R$ 3,178,396,110 and save R$ 660,076,410 to the society and R$ 365,602,305 to the healthcare system. The program is cost-effective (R$ 14,749 and R$ 16,582 per life-year saved under the societal and the healthcare system's perspective, respectively). The program's cost-effectiveness is highly sensitive to the vaccine price and number of doses.

Association between ambient air pollution and birth weight in São Paulo, Brazil.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have implicated air pollution in increased mortality and morbidity, especially in the elderly population and children. More recently, associations with mortality in infants and with some reproductive outcomes have also been reported. The aim of this study is to explore the association between exposure to outdoor air pollution during pregnancy and birth weight. DESIGN: Cross sectional study using data on all singleton full term live births during a one year period. For each individual birth, information on gestational age, type of delivery, birth weight, sex, maternal education, maternal age, place of residence, and parity was available. Daily mean levels of PM(10), sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone were also gathered. The association between birth weight and air pollution was assessed in regression models with exposure averaged over each trimester of pregnancy. SETTING: São Paulo city, Brazil. RESULTS: Birth weight was shown to be associated with length of gestation, maternal age and instruction, infant gender, number of antenatal care visits, parity, and type of delivery. On adjusting for these variables negative effects of exposure to PM(10) and carbon monoxide during the first trimester were observed. This effect seemed to be more robust for carbon monoxide. For a 1 ppm increase in mean exposure to carbon monoxide during the first trimester a reduction of 23 g in birth weight was estimated. CONCLUSIONS: The results are consistent in revealing that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may interfere with weight gain in the fetus. Given the poorer outlook for low birthweight babies on a number of health outcomes, this finding is important from the public health perspective.