Cost-Effectiveness of Recombinant Zoster Vaccine for the Prevention of Herpes Zoster in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients and Other Immunocompromised Adults in the United States.

Introduction: Immunocompromised (IC) adults are at increased risk of developing herpes zoster (HZ) and HZ-related complications due to therapy or underlying disease. This study evaluated the cost effectiveness of recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) versus no vaccine for the prevention of HZ in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients and other IC adults aged ≥ 18 years in the United States (US).

Methods: A static Markov model simulated cohorts of IC individuals using a 1-year cycle length and 30-year time horizon to estimate the cost effectiveness of RZV.

Cost-benefit analysis of vaccination against four preventable diseases in older adults: Impact of an aging population.

Objective: This exploratory study estimates the economic value of the current vaccination program and increased coverage against four preventable diseases in older adults in the United States (US).

Methods: A population-based, age-structured economic model was used to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of vaccination against influenza, pertussis, herpes zoster, and pneumococcal disease among US adults aged 50 years and older, accounting for aging of the population. The model used separate decision trees for each disease to project the discounted number of vaccinated individuals, number of disease cases, and direct medical and indirect costs (2018 US$) over a 30-year period.

A Study of Perceived Nature, Shade and Trees and Self-Reported Physical Activity in Denver.

(1) Background: Current evidence on the association between greenery and physical activity (PA) remains inconsistent. Most studies on this association use objective measures of greenness, which do not reveal people's perceptions of greenness in neighborhoods, or the role of quality components of greenness, such as shade, trees, and the presence of nature on this association. (2) Methods: Drawing on data from the Neighborhood Environment and Health Survey-a cross-sectional population-based survey of Denver residents in 2007-we examined which measures of greenness (perceived and objective) correlated with the self-reported PA.

EURISWEB--Web-based epidemiological surveillance of antibiotic-resistant pneumococci in day care centers.

Background: EURIS (European Resistance Intervention Study) was launched as a multinational study in September of 2000 to identify the multitude of complex risk factors that contribute to the high carriage rate of drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae strains in children attending Day Care Centers in several European countries. Access to the very large number of data required the development of a web-based infrastructure - EURISWEB - that includes a relational online database, coupled with a query system for data retrieval, and allows integrative storage of demographic, clinical and molecular biology data generated in EURIS.

Methods: All components of the system were developed using open source programming tools: data storage management was supported by PostgreSQL, and the hypertext preprocessor to generate the web pages was implemented using PHP.