Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42371260›Full record

ArticlePharmacoEconomics - open2026

Estimating the Long-Term Clinical and Economic Impact of Universal Varicella Vaccination in Portugal Using a Dynamic Transmission Model.

Colleen Burgess, Stephanie A Kujawski, Miguel Amorim, John C Lang

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Article in PharmacoEconomics - open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

4 authors.

Colleen BurgessMerck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0393-0767
Stephanie A KujawskiMerck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7915-8553
Miguel AmorimMSD (Portugal) Lda., Paço de Arcos, Portugal.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-0400-8305
John C LangMerck Canada Inc., 16750 Trans-Canada Hwy, Kirkland, QC, Canada. john.lang@merck.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1770-2995

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVaricella vaccination is not currently included in Portugal's childhood national immunization program. We modeled the clinical and economic impact of a two-dose universal varicella vaccination (UVV) program in Portugal.

methodsA dynamic transmission model was adapted to Portugal to assess the impact of UVV over a 50-year time horizon. Two two-dose UVV strategies (first dose at 12 months, second dose at 5 years) were compared to no vaccination. Clinical outcomes included varicella and herpes zoster incidence rates, cases, deaths, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost, and varicella-related health care resource use. Costs were assessed from the payer perspective (direct costs of treatment) and societal perspective (direct costs plus indirect costs of lost workdays).

resultsBoth UVV strategies reduced total varicella cases by 79.4-85.3%, outpatient visits by 78.9-84.8%, and varicella hospitalizations by 69.3-71.3% compared to no varicella vaccination. Herpes zoster cases were reduced by 2.4-2.9%. These strategies resulted in the gain of 5977-6094 QALYs and cost savings of €12.0 million (M)-15.9M from the payer perspective and €84.2M-93.9M from the societal perspective.

conclusionsA two-dose UVV program is estimated to substantially reduce the burden of varicella disease in Portugal and to be cost-saving from both the payer and societal perspectives.

Identifiers

PMID42371260
PMCPMC13594043

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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.