The Potential Public Health Impact of Varicella Vaccination in Hungary

Abstract

BAckground: The National Center for Epidemiology (NCE) provides basic information about the epidemiology of the registered HIV infected patients in Hungary, but there is no evidence about the size or characteristics of the patient population appearing in the healthcare system. Hungary has a comprehensive public health insurance system covering the total population, and Hungarian laws grant public data access. oBjectives: These are the first results from HEARTS: HIV Epidemiology and AntiRetroviral Treatment Study about the prevalence, incidence and mortality of HIV patients requiring healthcare services in the real world setting. Methods: This is a non-interventional retrospective claims database study of patients receiving healthcare services for their HIV infection between 2005-2015 in Hungary. Patients were identified from the National health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA) databases based on multiple criteria including International Classification of Diseases and International Classification of Procedures in Medicine codes, and medication purchase data. results: The number of prevalent patients in Hungary increased from 475 in 2005 to 1420 in 2015. The total number of HIV patients in the study period was 1772. Yearly incidence increased from 58 patients in 2005 to 379 in 2015. In the study period, a total of 120 patients died of the 1772 subjects which means a 6.7 % mortality rate. The gender distribution of patients has only changed minimally during the study period: the proportion of male patients has increased slightly, from 2005 (85%) to 2015 (88%). The age group of 30-39 years was the largest for both men and women, and accounted for about 39% of all prevalent patients. conclusions: Less than 60% of the patients registered by the NCE are prevalent in the national healthcare system, and they can appear for care years after their first registration. Anonymised follow-up of these patients can provide valuable information about the treatment patterns and resource use of this population.