The cost and public health burden of invasive meningococcal disease outbreaks: a systematic review.

Background: Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a serious disease with a rapid onset, high mortality rate, and risk of long-term complications. Numerous reports in the literature conclude that IMD outbreaks are associated with substantial costs to society and significant burden on communities due to the cost associated with the prevention of secondary cases.

Objective: To systematically review the literature on the costs and public health burden associated with IMD outbreaks.

Estimating the payoffs from cardiovascular disease research in Canada: an economic analysis.

Background: Investments in medical research can result in health improvements, reductions in health expenditures and secondary economic benefits. These "returns" have not been quantified in Canada. Our objective was to estimate the return on cardiovascular disease research funded by public or charitable organizations.

Disease burden of chronic hepatitis B among immigrants in Canada.

Background: The prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection among immigrants to North America ranges from 2% to 15%, 40% of whom develop advanced liver disease. Screening for hepatitis B surface antigen is not recommended for immigrants.

Objective: To estimate the disease burden of CHB among immigrants in Canada using Markov cohort models comparing a cohort of immigrants with CHB versus a control cohort of immigrants without CHB.

Canada's contribution to global research in cardiovascular diseases.

The burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Canada and other developed countries is growing, in part because of the aging of the population and the alarming rise of obesity. Studying Canada's contribution to the global body of CVD research output will shed light on the effectiveness of investments in Canadian CVD research and inform if Canada has been responding to its CVD burden. Search was conducted using the Web-of-Science database for publications during 1981 through 2010 on major areas and specific interventions in CVD.

How much are we spending? The estimation of research expenditures on cardiovascular disease in Canada.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in Canada and is a priority area for medical research. The research funding landscape in Canada has changed quite a bit over the last few decades, as have funding levels. Our objective was to estimate the magnitude of expenditures on CVD research for the public and charitable (not-for profit) sectors in Canada between 1975 and 2005.

Health state utilities and quality of life in patients with hepatitis B.

Background: The effect of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and health state utilities has not been well characterized.

Objective: To measure utility scores and HRQoL across disease states associated with CHB infection.

Methods: Patients attending four tertiary care clinics for CHB were approached between July 2007 and March 2009.

Hepatitis B virus screening before chemotherapy for lymphoma: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Purpose: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation is a potentially fatal complication of chemotherapy that can be largely prevented with antiviral prophylaxis. It remains unclear whether HBV screening is cost effective.

Methods: A decision model was developed to compare the clinical outcomes, costs, and cost effectiveness of three HBV screening strategies for patients with lymphoma before R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) chemotherapy: screen all patients for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg; Screen-All), screen patients identified as being at high risk for HBV infection (Screen-HR), and screen no one (Screen-None).

Cost effectiveness of screening immigrants for hepatitis B.

Background: The prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection among the immigrants of North America ranges from 2 to 15%, among whom 40% develop advanced liver disease. Screening for hepatitis B surface antigen is not recommended for immigrants.

Aims: The objective of this study is to estimate the health and economic effects of screening strategies for CHB among immigrants.

Tenofovir and entecavir are the most effective antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis B: a systematic review and Bayesian meta-analyses.

Background & Aims: The relative efficacies of licensed antiviral therapies for treatment-naive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection in randomized controlled trials have not been determined. We evaluated the relative efficacies of the first 12 months of CHB treatments.

Methods: Drugs evaluated were lamivudine, pegylated interferon, adefovir, entecavir, telbivudine, and tenofovir, as monotherapies and combination therapies, in treatment-naive individuals.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of implantable venous access device insertion using interventional radiologic versus conventional operating room methods in pediatric patients with cancer.

Purpose: Percutaneous image-guided techniques are associated with less tissue trauma and morbidity than open surgical techniques. Interventional radiology has received significant health care investment. The purpose was to determine the cost effectiveness of inserting implantable venous access devices (IVADs) by interventional radiologic means versus conventional operating room surgery in pediatric patients with cancer.

Cost-effectiveness analyses of hepatitis A vaccine: a systematic review to explore the effect of methodological quality on the economic attractiveness of vaccination strategies.

Hepatitis A vaccines have been available for more than a decade. Because the burden of hepatitis A virus has fallen in developed countries, the appropriate role of vaccination programmes, especially universal vaccination strategies, remains unclear. Cost-effectiveness analysis is a useful method of relating the costs of vaccination to its benefits, and may inform policy.