Abstract
Background: 4,444 new cases of tuberculosis (TB) were reported in Germany in 2009; of those, the proportion of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases increased to 2.1% (63 cases).
Methods: On the basis of the therapy guidelines of the German Central Committee against Tuberculosis and the new WHO guidelines, this study estimates the mean direct outpatient and combined in- and outpatient costs of TB, together with other attributable costs of the disease on the basis of the most recent German official health statistics and scientific literature.
Results: According to this, the mean outpatient costs (rounded) per case were €1,197 (adults) and €1,006 (children) for standard therapy, but €36,543 for treatment of MDR-TB. The mean combined inpatient/outpatient costs were €7,364 (adults) and €7,300 (children), respectively; the combined costs for treatment of MDR-TB amounted to €52,259. Including MDR-TB cases the mean costs of treatment per TB case were €7,931.
These are joined by the mean costs due to loss of productivity (€2,313), costs per case for rehabilitation (€74) and contact tracing (€922), summing up to €11,240.
Conclusion: With respect to the probably increasing number of MDR-TB cases in the next future, TBs is still a disease of significant economic impact in Germany.
- ERS
