West Nile Virus-Associated Hospitalizations, California, 2004-2017.

Robert E Snyder, Gail Sondermeyer Cooksey, Vicki Kramer, Seema Jain, Duc J Vugia

Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2021 Aug 02

filter terms:

West Nile virus (WNV) is the most commonly reported mosquito-borne disease in the USA. California reports more WNV disease than any other state. We identified WNV-associated hospitalizations from 2004 through 2017 in California and estimated hospitalization incidence using Patient Discharge Data. We described demographic, geographic, and clinical characteristics of WNV hospitalizations; identified risk factors for in-hospital death; and tabulated hospitalization charges. From 2004 through 2017, 3109 Californians were hospitalized with WNV (median, 214 patients/year; range, 72-449). The majority were male (1983; 63.8%) and aged ≥60 years (1766; 56.8%). The highest median annual hospitalization rate (0.88 hospitalizations/100 000 persons) was in the Central Valley, followed by southern California (0.59 hospitalizations/100 000 persons). Most patients (2469; 79.4%) had ≥1 underlying condition, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or immunosuppression due to medications or disease. Median hospitalization length of stay was 12 days (interquartile range, 6-23 days). During hospitalization, 1317 (42%) patients had acute respiratory failure and/or sepsis/septic shock, 772 (24.8%) experienced acute kidney failure, and 470 (15.1%) had paralysis; 272 (8.8%) patients died. Nearly 47% (1444) of patients were discharged for additional care. During these 14 years, $838 680 664 (mean $59.9 million/year) was charged for WNV hospitalizations, 73.9% through government payers at a median charge of $142 321/patient. WNV-associated hospitalizations were substantial and costly in California. Hospitalization incidence was higher in males, elderly persons, and patients with underlying conditions. WNV persists as a costly and severe public health threat in California. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Citation

Robert E Snyder, Gail Sondermeyer Cooksey, Vicki Kramer, Seema Jain, Duc J Vugia. West Nile Virus-Associated Hospitalizations, California, 2004-2017. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. 2021 Aug 02;73(3):441-447