Empirical data on the varicella situation in Germany for vaccination decisions

ABSTRACT As epidemiological data concerning varicella in Germany were not available, a retrospective study was conducted to investigate the impact of the disease, focusing also on economic aspects. A representative German-wide sample of 1334 unvaccinated varicella cases was obtained in 1999 from randomly selected paediatric (P) and general, as well as internal, mainly adult (A), practices. Following representative weighting, the median age was 5 years, with 90% of cases aged c. 150 million Euro, with c. 50 million Euro paid by the statutory health insurance system. It was concluded that universal varicella vaccination in Germany would provide essential clinical improvements for patients and prevent hospital admissions. In addition, significant economic benefits can be expected, mainly because of the high level of indirect health costs in Germany.