Silver Book

Infectious Diseases  /  Economic Burden

Vaccine preventable illnesses and diseases continue to cause significant sickness, hospitalization, pain, disability, and death in the United States.  Pneumonia causes somewhere between 300,000 and 600,000 hospitalizations in older adults each year, and more than 50% of flu-related hospitalizations are in people age 65 and older.  Around 50% of the more than 1 million cases of shingles each year are in people age 60 and older.

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    • Unplanned Hospital Readmissions & Costs Following Sepsis Hospitalizations
      Among 187,697 hospital admissions for medical reasons that were associated with an unplanned 30-day readmission,  147,084 had a diagnosis of sepsis, 15,001 had a diagnosis of AMI, 79,480 were diagnosed with heart failure, 54,396…  
    • Cost of infectious disease in unvaccinated individuals
      Unvaccinated individuals are responsible fror almost 80% ($7.1 billion) of the $9 billion economic burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in 2015.  Note that the cost is based on the vaccine-preventable illnesses…  
    • Cost of vaccine-preventable diseases
      Vaccine-preventable diseases relevant to the ten vaccines recommended for US adults, cost an estimated $9 billion in 2015.  
    • Flu causes close to 1/2 of lost workdays and low productivity in adults 50-64 during flu season
      During influenza season, influenza-like-illness is responsible for 45% of workdays lost and for 49% of low productivity days among working adults aged 50–64 years.  
    • Shingles causes an average of 129 hours lost work per episode
      Patients with shingles (including those progressing to postherpetic neuralgia) lose an average of over 129 hours of work per episode, including losses of 12 or more hours of work time  
    • Costs of shingles
      Among patients with acute episodes of shingles, average expenditures ranged from $112 to $287 per episode of outpatient care, $73 to $180 per antiviral treatment, and $3,221 to $7,206 per…  
    • Flu costs US $16.3 billion in lost earnings each year
      Lost productivity and loss of life due to influenza amounts to $16.3 billion of lost earnings annually.  
    • >1/2 of flu’s economic burden from people 65+
      An estimated 64% of the total economic burden of influenza comes from those over 65 years old.  
    • Medical expenses for Medicare patients with pneumonia higher
      Medicare patients hospitalized for pneumonia have medical expenses—during the hospitalization and for a year afterwards—that are $15,682 higher than in Medicare patients without pneumonia.  
    • Cost of hospital-treated pneumonia in Medicare patients
      Hospital-treated pneumonia in Medicare patients cost at least $7 billion in 2010.  
    • Cost of pneumonia and flu more than $40 billion in 2005
      In 2005, pneumonia and influenza combined cost the U.S. $40.2 billion—$34.2 in direct costs and $6 billion in indirect mortality costs.  
    • Lost work due to shingles
      Shingles patients lose an average 129 hours of work per episode.  
    • Annual cost of shingles
      Shingles cost ~$1 billion in indirect and direct medical expenses each year.  
    • Lost productivity due to flu
      During flu season, in working adults ages 50 to 64 years old, flu-like illness is responsible for 45% of workdays lost and 49% of low-productivity days.  
    • Annual cost of flu
      The annual direct and indirect cost of flu in the U.S. is more than $87 billion.  
    • Higher hospitalization costs due to pneumonia
      Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for pneumonia have $15,682 higher expenses than those without the infection.  
    • Physician visits due to infectious diseases
      1 in 4 physician visits are due to infectious diseases.  
    • Infectious diseases 15% of all healthcare expenditures
      The annual direct & indirect medical cost of infectious diseases is $120 million, 15% of all U.S. healthcare expenditures.