Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35687559›Full record

ArticlePloS one2022

Impact of universal varicella vaccination on the use and cost of antibiotics and antivirals for varicella management in the United States.

Manjiri Pawaskar, Jaime Fergie, Carolyn Harley, Salome Samant, Phani Veeranki, Oliver Diaz, James H Conway

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. A fresh look at varicella vaccination.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Manjiri PawaskarMerck & Co. Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0001-8009-805X
Jaime FergieDriscoll Children's Hospital, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States of America.
Carolyn HarleyPRECISIONheor, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
Salome SamantMerck & Co. Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America.
Phani VeerankiPRECISIONheor, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
Oliver DiazPRECISIONheor, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
James H ConwaySchool of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA (United States) · USDriscoll Children's Hospital · USUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOur objective was to estimate the impact of universal varicella vaccination (UVV) on the use and costs of antibiotics and antivirals for the management of varicella among children in the United States (US).

methodsA decision tree model of varicella vaccination, infections and treatment decisions was developed. Results were extrapolated to the 2017 population of 73.5 million US children. Model parameters were populated from published sources. Treatment decisions were derived from a survey of health care professionals' recommendations. The base case modelled current vaccination coverage rates in the US with additional scenarios analyses conducted for 0%, 20%, and 80% coverage and did not account for herd immunity benefits.

resultsOur model estimated that 551,434 varicella cases occurred annually among children ≤ 18 years in 2017. Antivirals or antibiotics were prescribed in 23.9% of cases, with unvaccinated children receiving the majority for base case. The annual cost for varicella antiviral and antibiotic treatment was approximately $14 million ($26 per case), with cases with no complications accounting for $12 million. Compared with the no vaccination scenario, the current vaccination rates resulted in savings of $181 million (94.7%) for antivirals and $78 million (95.0%) for antibiotics annually. Scenario analyses showed that higher vaccination coverage (from 0% to 80%) resulted in reduced annual expenditures for antivirals (from $191 million to $41 million), and antibiotics ($82 million to $17 million).

conclusionsUVV was associated with significant reductions in the use of antibiotics and antivirals and their associated costs in the US. Higher vaccination coverage was associated with lower use and costs of antibiotics and antivirals for varicella management.

Indexed as

ChickenpoxAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntiviral AgentsChickenpox VaccineChildCost-Benefit AnalysisHerpesvirus 3, HumanHumansUnited StatesVaccinationAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntiviral AgentsChickenpox Vaccine

Identifiers

PMID35687559
PMCPMC9187103
OpenAlexW4281645026

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.