A Zika attack rate of 2 percent across the six states facing the highest infection risk would result in total costs exceeding $2 billion, according to a study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Researchers developed a computational model to forecast the potential economic burden of Zika across six states facing the greatest Zika threat in the country: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. They investigated the effects of a varying attack rate, from 0.01 percent to 10 percent.
Here are four insights:
1. Across the six states, an attack rate of 0.01 percent would cost $183.4 million to society — $117.1 million in direct medical costs and $66.3 million in productivity losses.
2. An attack rate of 0.025 percent would result in $198.6 million in costs.
3. A 0.10 percent attack rate would cost $274.6 million.
4. An attack rate of 1 percent would result in costs totaling $1.2 billion, with $268 million sunk into direct medical costs and $919.2 million in productivity losses.
Thus, study authors conclude that "direct medical costs, Medicaid costs, productivity losses and total costs to society may vary with different attack rates across the six states and the circumstances at which they may exceed certain thresholds."
As of June 27, there have been1,997 pregnant women in the country with lab evidence of Zika infection, according to the CDC. The infection can cause deadly birth defects, including Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly. Approximately 5 percent of pregnant women infected with the Zika virus in U.S. territories have had a baby or fetus with Zika-related birth defects.