DIRECT AND INDIRECT COSTS OF RABIES EXPOSURE: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (1998–2002)

Authors

Stephanie A. Shwiff, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Ray T. Sterner, National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture
Michele T. Jay, California Department of Health Services
Shefali Parikh, California Department of Health Services
Amy Bellomy, Santa Barbara County Public Health Department
Martin I. Meltzer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Charles E. Rupprecht, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GeorgiaFollow
Dennis Slate, Wildlife Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Concord, New Hampshire

Date of this Version

April 2007

Comments

Published in Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 43(2), 2007, pp. 251–257.

Abstract

The direct and indirect costs of suspected human rabies exposure were estimated for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, California, USA. Clinic, hospital, and county public health records (1998–2002) were examined to determine direct costs for postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), and 55 (41%) former patients were contacted to voluntarily provide estimates of their indirect costs associated with receiving PEP. Additional costs due to public health and animal control personnel responses to rabid animals were collected, including diagnostic testing and wages. The mean total cost of a suspected human rabies exposure was $3,688, the direct costs per case were $2,564, and the indirect costs were $1,124 of that total. About one third of the total cost for suspected human rabies exposure was attributed to indirect costs (e.g., lost wages, transportation, and day-care fees), most of which were not reimbursable to the patient.