What are economic costs for a family when a child suffers from chickenpox?
The economic costs can be divided into direct costs and indirect costs. The cost of medications to control fever, relieve itching can be considered as direct costs. Occasionally, the child may have to be hospitalized or rarely suffer a severe complication. These add to direct costs. In addition, there are indirect expenses that the family has to incur. E.g. when a child has chickenpox, he cannot attend school and cannot be cared for in a day-care center, for the fear of spreading infection. This compels one of the adult household members, usually a parent to abstain from work and be at home to take care of the sick child. This may mean missing important appointments, rescheduling assignments or even loss of wages.
