Cost-effectiveness of screening for genital Chlamydia trachomatis.

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common, curable, sexually transmitted disease in many Western countries, leading to severe sequelae, such as infertility and ectopic pregnancy. As most chlamydial infections are asymptomatic, screening programs seem to be an attractive public health measure. MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Health Economic Evaluation Database and the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database were searched for economic evaluations of Chlamydia trachomatis screening programs.

Cost-effectiveness of partner pharmacotherapy in screening women for asymptomatic infection with Chlamydia Trachomatis.

Objective: To assess the cost-effectiveness of pharmacotherapy for male partners in screening women for asymptomatic infection with Chlamydia trachomatis (CT).

Methods And Data: A pharmacoeconomic decision analysis model was constructed for the health outcomes of a CT screening program, such as averted cases of pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility (major outcomes). Reinfection in the absence of partner pharmacotherapy was included in the model.

The economics of HIV vaccines: projecting the impact of HIV vaccination of infants in sub-Saharan Africa.

Objectives: (i) To project vaccine parameters, economic consequences and market size associated with HIV-1 vaccination of infants in sub-Saharan Africa through the Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI); and (ii) to assess threshold values for price and effectiveness.

Study Design And Methods: Cost-effectiveness analysis using a decision-analysis model linking epidemiological data with economic information. Epidemiological data on the burden of disease of HIV were obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

Cost-effectiveness of HIV screening of patients attending clinics for sexually transmitted diseases in Amsterdam.

Objective: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of universal HIV screening of patients attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in Amsterdam.

Design: Cost effectiveness analysis.

Methods: A Bernoulli model for the secondary transmission of HIV was linked with epidemiological data on infection with HIV and other STD in patients attending a STD clinic in Amsterdam from 1991 to 1997.

Pharmacoeconomic evaluation of intensified antiretroviral treatment strategies in HIV/AIDS.

There have been great technological advances in the use of antiretroviral therapies to slow down disease progression in HIV/AIDS. Combinations of therapeutics and the use of several diagnostic methods have resulted in both declines in mortality and the occurrence of opportunistic infections. The higher costs of these therapeutics have prompted questions about the economic aspects of treatment with antiretrovirals.

Economic evaluations of adult pneumococcal vaccination strategies.

We performed an extensive search for full economic evaluations on pneumococcal vaccination in adults. We included 11 North American and 9 European studies for review. There was a clear preference for cost-effectiveness and cost-utility versus cost-benefit analysis.

Pharmacoeconomics of Helicobacter pylori: eradication versus maintenance therapy in controlling peptic ulcer disease.

We performed an electronic search in Medline and EMBASE for papers comparing Helicobacter pylori eradication and H(2)RA-maintenance therapy in peptic ulcer. Treatment to eradicate H. pylori in patients with a proven ulcer has a favorable cost-effectiveness compared with maintenance therapy, with benefits for the patient and society.

Health economics of a hexavalent meningococcal outer-membrane vesicle vaccine in children: potential impact of introduction in the Dutch vaccination program.

The cost-effectiveness of universal vaccination of infants with a new hexavalent meningococcal B outer-membrane vesicle vaccine is projected for The Netherlands by applying decision analysis. The societal perspective is taken and direct and productivity costs (friction costs method) are considered. Future costs and effects are discounted at 4% (base year 1998).

A diffusion-translocation model for gradient sensing by chemotactic cells.

Small chemotactic cells like Dictyostelium and neutrophils transduce shallow spatial chemoattractant gradients into strongly localized intracellular responses. We show that the capacity of a second messenger to establish and maintain localized signals, is mainly determined by its dispersion range, lambda = the square root of D(m)/k(-1), which must be small compared to the cell's length. Therefore, short-living second messengers (high k(-1)) with diffusion coefficients D(m) in the range of 0-5 microm(2) s(-1) are most suitable.

Cost effectiveness analysis of a population based screening programme for asymptomatic Chlamydia trachomatis infections in women by means of home obtained urine specimens.

Objectives: To evaluate the cost effectiveness of a systematic screening programme for asymptomatic Chlamydia trachomatis infections in a female inner city population. To determine the sensitivity of the cost effectiveness analysis to variation in the probability of developing sequelae.

Methods: A decision tree was constructed to evaluate health effects of the programme, such as averted sequelae of chlamydial infection.

Neutrinos produced by ultrahigh-energy photons at high redshift.

Some of the proposed explanations for the origin of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays invoke new sources of energetic photons (e.g., topological defects, relic particles, etc.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of pneumococcal vaccination for elderly individuals in The Netherlands.

Objective: To assess the cost effectiveness (net costs per life year gained) of pneumococcal vaccination of elderly individuals aged 65 years and over in The Netherlands.

Design And Setting: A pharmacoeconomic analysis was conducted from the healthcare perspective in The Netherlands. The gender- and age-specific modelling framework linked epidemiological aspects of invasive pneumococcal disease (e.

Socio-economic aspects of extended STD screening in pregnancy.

Screening for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in early pregnancy is included in routine antenatal care for several infectious agents in many western European countries. Pharmaco-economics of these interventions have been evaluated. Currently, reconsideration of antenatal screening is ongoing, with explicit attention given to extending the STD testing to some other infectious agents, such as HIV and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT).

Comparative model-based analysis of screening programs for Chlamydia trachomatis infections.

The design of a screening program for asymptomatic genital infections with Chlamydia trachomatis, requires decisions about which sex or age group should be targeted and whether partner referral should be included in the program. To investigate the effects of various screening programs on the prevalence and incidence of asymptomatic C. trachomatis infections in women, in May 1996 to April 1997 in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, the authors used a stochastic simulation model for C.

[Screening for asymptomatic Chlamydia trachomatis infection in pregnancy; cost-effectiveness favorable at a minimum prevalence rate of 3% or more].

Objective: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of antenatal screening for Chlamydia trachomatis.

Design: Pharmaco-economic model analysis.

Method: The risks of C.

Cost effectiveness of expanded antenatal HIV testing in London.

Background: Recently the Department of Health announced the introduction in England of voluntary universal HIV screening in early pregnancy to prevent vertical transmission. New data have shown the importance of HIV infection in infants born to mothers who were HIV-negative in early pregnancy and who acquired HIV later in pregnancy or during lactation. This requires consideration of repeat testing in late pregnancy and testing of partners of pregnant women (expanded antenatal HIV testing).

Pharmacoeconomics of influenza vaccination in the elderly: reviewing the available evidence.

Most western countries have influenza vaccination programmes for citizens aged > or = 65 years. This paper reviews the available evidence on whether elderly influenza vaccination is worthwhile from a pharmacoeconomic point of view. A search on Medline and EMBASE resulted in a primary selection of approximately 100 studies on the pharmacoeconomics of influenza vaccination in the elderly.

Cost-effectiveness of screening programs for Chlamydia trachomatis: a population-based dynamic approach.

Background: Models commonly used for the economic assessment of chlamydial screening programs do not consider population effects.

Goal: To develop a novel dynamic approach for the economic evaluation of chlamydial prevention measures and to determine the cost-effectiveness of a general practitioner-based screening program.

Study Design: The dynamic approach was used to estimate the cost-effectiveness of a screening program for the first 10 years of screening in The Netherlands.

Hospital care for persons with AIDS in European-Union countries; a cross-country comparison.

This paper compares AIDS hospital care in several European-Union countries. For this purpose hospital-care utilisation studies on inpatient days and outpatient contacts were analysed in a generic approach controlling for severity stages of AIDS. Lifetime hospital-care needs for AIDS are derived, providing useful information for health-care policy makers.

[Pharmaco-economic evaluation of mandatory HIV-screening in pregnancy; a cost-efficacy analysis in Amsterdam].

Objective: To estimate the cost effectiveness of universal screening for HIV of pregnant women in Amsterdam.

Design: Pharmaco-economic model calculation.

Method: An estimate was made of the minimal and maximal prevalences of undiagnosed HIV infection during pregnancy for the whole of Amsterdam, based on epidemiological data from observation among pregnant women in two Amsterdam hospitals and one obstetrical practice.

Economic evaluation of influenza vaccination. Assessment for The Netherlands.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the costs associated with influenza and the cost effectiveness (net costs per life-year gained) of influenza vaccination in The Netherlands.

Design And Setting: The economic evaluation comprised a cost-of-illness assessment and a cost-effectiveness analysis, both of which were conducted from the healthcare perspective in The Netherlands. The modelling framework for the economic evaluation linked epidemiological aspects of influenza (e.

Current and future medical costs of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in The Netherlands.

The aim of this study was to estimate the healthcare costs of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in the Netherlands, in 1993. Also studied was the future development of these costs, as a result of ageing and possible changes in smoking behavior. A prevalence-based cost-of-illness approach was used to estimate direct medical costs.