Supporting data for Vietnam.

BackgroundJapanese encephalitis (JE) is a leading cause of acute encephalitis syndrome and resulting neurological disability in Asia and the Western Pacific. This study aims to estimate the cost of acute care, initial rehabilitation and sequelae care, in Vietnam and Laos.MethodologyWe conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study using a micro-costing approach from the health system and household perspectives. Out-of-pocket direct medical and non-medical costs, indirect costs, and family impact were reported by patients and/or caregivers. Hospitalization costs were extracted from hospital charts. Acute costs covered expenditures from pre-hospital to follow-up visits while sequelae care costs were estimated from expenditures in the last 90 days. All costs are in 2021 US dollars.Principal findings242 patients in two major sentinel sites in the North and South of Vietnam and 65 patients in a central hospital in Vientiane, Laos, with laboratory-confirmed JE were recruited regardless of age, sex, and ethnicity. In Vietnam, the mean total cost was $3,371 per acute JE episode (median $2,071, standard error [SE] $464) while annual costs were $404 for initial sequelae care (median $0, SE $220) and $320 for long-term sequelae care (median $0, SE $108). In Laos, the mean hospitalization costs in acute stage were $2,005 (median $1,698, SE $279) and the mean annual costs were $2,317 (median $0, SE $2,233) for initial sequelae care and $89 (median $0, SE $57) for long-term sequelae care. In both countries, most patients did not seek care for their sequelae. Families perceived extreme impact from JE and 20% to 30% of households still had sustained debts years after acute JE.ConclusionsJE patients and families in Vietnam and Laos suffer extreme medical, economic, and social hardship. This has policy implications for improving JE prevention in these two JE-endemic countries.背景：日本脑炎（Japanese encephalitis, JE）是亚洲及西太平洋地区急性脑炎综合征及其继发神经功能残疾的主要致病原因。本研究旨在估算越南与老挝两国急性诊疗、早期康复及后遗症照护的相关成本。方法：本研究采用微观成本核算方法，从卫生系统与家庭双视角开展横断面回顾性研究。患者及/或照护者需报告自付直接医疗与非医疗成本、间接成本以及家庭所受影响；住院成本则从医院病历中提取。急性阶段成本涵盖院前至随访就诊的全部支出，而后遗症照护成本基于过去90天的支出进行估算。所有成本均以2021年美元计价。主要研究结果：本研究共纳入经实验室确诊的JE患者共307例，纳入对象不受年龄、性别与种族限制，其中越南南北两大哨点医院纳入242例，老挝万象市中心医院纳入65例。在越南，每例急性JE患者的平均总成本为3371美元（中位数2071美元，标准误[SE] 464美元）；其中早期后遗症照护的年平均成本为404美元（中位数0美元，标准误220美元），长期后遗症照护的年平均成本为320美元（中位数0美元，标准误108美元）。在老挝，急性阶段的平均住院成本为2005美元（中位数1698美元，标准误279美元）；早期后遗症照护的年平均成本为2317美元（中位数0美元，标准误2233美元），长期后遗症照护的年平均成本为89美元（中位数0美元，标准误57美元）。两国均有多数患者未针对后遗症寻求医疗照护；受JE影响的家庭均承受了极大冲击，且20%至30%的家庭在急性JE发病数年后仍背负持续性债务。结论：越南与老挝的JE患者及其家庭均承受了极为严重的医疗、经济与社会负担。该研究结果对这两个JE流行国家的JE防控政策优化具有重要参考价值。