What Typhoid Costs Families in Indonesia

Typhoid fever is a serious illness. It comes from a germ named Salmonella Typhi. Many countries have seen fewer cases over the last thirty years. But it is still a big problem around the world. In 2021, about 7.1 million people got sick with typhoid. The true number could be between 5.6 million and 9.2 million. The World Health Organization recommends a vaccine called TCV. Ten countries have already added it to their programs. Indonesia is not one of them yet. Leaders in Indonesia want to know if they should add it too.

To help them decide, researchers ran a cost study. They visited 23 hospitals and local health centers across six provinces. They looked at patients who stayed in the hospital with typhoid. The patients were children from 6 months to 17 years, and adults 18 years and older. Each person had a positive typhoid test. People with other major illnesses were left out. The team used records from 2019 to 2023. Some data came from old files. Some came from new interviews with families.

The study collected 2,069 records in total. About 1,538 came from past files. The rest, 531, came from fresh interviews. Researchers added up medical bills, travel costs, and lost work time. For children, the average medical bill was $177. For adults, it was $200. Families also spent about $44 for kids and $39 for adults on non-medical things. Lost wages cost about $24 for children's families and $18 for adults' families.

The type of hospital changed the price. Private hospitals had the highest medical costs, around $254. Local health centers were the cheapest, at about $48. The researchers double-checked their math. They removed strange numbers and used the local minimum wage when income data was missing. All of this information is meant to help Indonesia's leaders make a smart choice about the vaccine.