The cost of dengue shock and septic shock in Vietnam: a patient-centred economic analysis
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
Dengue shock (DS) and septic shock (SS) are the most common infectious causes of shock in Vietnam. Little is known about the cost of an episode of DS or SS from the patient perspective. We aimed to describe the direct medical, non-medical and productivity costs associated with DS and SS.
Methods
We recruited adults with DS and SS to a prospective observational study at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, from 2019 to 2021. We collected hospital bills, insurance status and out of pocket payments, and conducted an economic questionnaire at discharge, 1, 3 and 6 mo later. We calculated the proportion incurring catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and catastrophic costs.
Results
We recruited 127 adults with DS, of whom 118 survived, and 35 with SS, of whom 24 survived; 18.9% and 71.4% with DS and SS, respectively, incurred CHE. When non-medical and productivity costs were considered, the true cost of illness was 6.3 and 6.7 times higher than the hospital bill for DS and SS, respectively.
Conclusions
Productivity costs must be counted when assessing the cost of critical illness in low- and lower-middle income countries. It is vital that financial protection systems are extended to cover patients requiring high-cost critical care in Vietnam.
Dengue shock (DS) and septic shock (SS) are the most common infectious causes of shock in Vietnam. Little is known about the cost of an episode of DS or SS from the patient perspective. We aimed to describe the direct medical, non-medical and productivity costs associated with DS and SS.
Methods
We recruited adults with DS and SS to a prospective observational study at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, from 2019 to 2021. We collected hospital bills, insurance status and out of pocket payments, and conducted an economic questionnaire at discharge, 1, 3 and 6 mo later. We calculated the proportion incurring catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and catastrophic costs.
Results
We recruited 127 adults with DS, of whom 118 survived, and 35 with SS, of whom 24 survived; 18.9% and 71.4% with DS and SS, respectively, incurred CHE. When non-medical and productivity costs were considered, the true cost of illness was 6.3 and 6.7 times higher than the hospital bill for DS and SS, respectively.
Conclusions
Productivity costs must be counted when assessing the cost of critical illness in low- and lower-middle income countries. It is vital that financial protection systems are extended to cover patients requiring high-cost critical care in Vietnam.
Date Issued
2026-05-01
Date Acceptance
2025-08-28
Citation
International Health, 2026, 18 (3), pp.431-439
ISSN
1876-3413
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
431
End Page
439
Journal / Book Title
International Health
Volume
18
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
10.1093/inthealth/ihaf105
Subjects
catastrophic costs
catastrophic health expenditure
economic
septic shock
severe dengue
Vietnam
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ihaf105
Date Publish Online
2025-09-23