'Campylobacteriosis in the Netherlands - Estimating the cost-of-illness and the disease burden'

Campylobacter infection in humans causes acute gastroenteritis, which, in most cases, is self-limiting within a few days. Some patients suffer for up to a few weeks and others even die. Guillain Barr6 Syndrome (GBS), reactive arthritis (ReA), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and bacteremia are occasional sequelae occurring after campylobacteriosis. Within the CARMA project, estimates of the cost-of-illness and disease burden are needed to evaluate the costeffectiveness of interventions. For the years 1990-1995 Havelaar et al. (Epidemiol Infect, 2000, 125, 505-522) estimated for the Netherlands (population -15 million) an annual incidence of Campylobacter-associated enteritis of 310,000 cases, whereof 18,000 patients visited a physician, 6,800 were laboratory-confirmed cases and 30 patients died. Furthermore, 60 GBS cases and 6000 ReA cases were triggered by Campylobacter. This resulted in an estimated mean disease burden of 1400 DALY per year (90 % C.I. 900- 2000). Because a recent population study estimated the annual incidence of campylobacteriosis in the Netherlands at ~ 100,000 cases, the first objective of this study is to update the estimate of disease burden of campylobacteriosis in the Netherlands. The second objective is to calculate the cost-ofillness associated with campylobacteriosis. This includes the estimation of direct and indirect costs of campylobacteriosis. Direct costs include medical costs (e.g. physician visits, hospitalisation...) and non-medical costs (e.g. travel costs). Indirect costs are income or productivity losses for ill persons, dying persons or caregivers for ill persons. This study is currently in progress. Estimates of costs of illness and disease burden will be presented at the congress.