Vaccine
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X
Volume 28, Issue 25, Pages 4119-4228 (7 June 2010)

Regular Papers
Rotavirus vaccination in northeast Brazil: A laudable intervention, but can it lead to cost-savings?
Pages 4162-4168
Chiara Centenari, Ricardo Q. Gurgel, Anna Klara Bohland, Débora M.P. Oliveira, Brian Faragher, Luis E. Cuevas

Abstract
This study assessed the family and heath system’s costs due to diarrhoea in children <2 years old, before/after the introduction of a rotavirus vaccine in Brazil in 2006. Information on diarrhoea health care costs and morbidity were obtained from the primary health care system, the National Public Health database (2004–2008) and care-givers. Diarrhoea ambulatory consultations and hospitalizations had a declining trend during the entire period, with additional steeper reductions after vaccine introduction. The vaccine thus is associated with reduced diarrhoea consultations and hospitalization costs and families’ out-of-pocket expenses. Despite these gains, the overall health system’s costs have increased.