Additional file 1: of Disease profile and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) using the EuroQol (EQ-5D + C) questionnaire for chronic metallic mercury vapor intoxication

File S1. Agenda of the expert meeting on December 14, 2012, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. File S2. List of references used in the presentation Chronic Hg intoxication in Idrija Mercury Mine. File S3. Fields of research of the meeting participants. File S4. Interview questions. File S5. Complete list of body systems affected, symptoms, synonymous terms, and the decision whether to include or exclude in the disease profiles. (PDF 192 kb

A Software Tool for Estimation of Burden of Infectious Diseases in Europe Using Incidence-Based Disability Adjusted Life Years

<div><p>The burden of disease framework facilitates the assessment of the health impact of diseases through the use of summary measures of population health such as Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). However, calculating, interpreting and communicating the results of studies using this methodology poses a challenge. The aim of the Burden of Communicable Disease in Europe (BCoDE) project is to summarize the impact of communicable disease in the European Union and European Economic Area Member States (EU/EEA MS). To meet this goal, a user-friendly software tool (BCoDE toolkit), was developed. This stand-alone application, written in C++, is open-access and freely available for download from the website of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). With the BCoDE toolkit, one can calculate DALYs by simply entering the age group- and sex-specific number of cases for one or more of selected sets of 32 communicable diseases (CDs) and 6 healthcare associated infections (HAIs). Disease progression models (i.e., outcome trees) for these communicable diseases were created following a thorough literature review of their disease progression pathway. The BCoDE toolkit runs Monte Carlo simulations of the input parameters and provides disease-specific results, including 95% uncertainty intervals, and permits comparisons between the different disease models entered. Results can be displayed as mean and median overall DALYs, DALYs per 100,000 population, and DALYs related to mortality vs. disability. Visualization options summarize complex epidemiological data, with the goal of improving communication and knowledge transfer for decision-making.</p></div

BCoDE toolkit: step-wise approach to disease model creation and data input.

<p>BCoDE toolkit: step-wise approach to disease model creation and data input.</p

BCoDE toolkit: options for visualization of the outputs.

<p>BCoDE toolkit: options for visualization of the outputs.</p

A disease outcome tree linking infection and all sequelae.

<p>A disease outcome tree linking infection and all sequelae.</p

Diseases and healthcare-associated infections included in the BCoDE toolkit for DALYs calculation.

<p>Diseases and healthcare-associated infections included in the BCoDE toolkit for DALYs calculation.</p

The undiscounted average burden of <i>Campylobacter</i> spp.

<p>(a) and <i>Salmonella</i> spp. (b) in the Netherlands (average of 2005–2007) in DALY per year, subdivided in YLL and YLD for acute illness, sequelae and total. The 95% uncertainty range is shown using error bars.</p

The undiscounted average burden of <i>Campylobacter</i> spp. and <i>Salmonella</i> spp.

<p>in the Netherlands (average of 2005–2007) in DALY per year, for base case and scenario analysis. DALY are subdivided in YLL and YLD for actue illness, sequelae and total. The 95% uncertainty range is shown using error bars. <b>Note:</b> “Base case” represents a situation where only severe GE cases are at risk to develop reactive arthritis (ReA). “SA: ReA” represents the scenario analysis where all GE cases are at risk to develop ReA.</p

Assuming a downwards time trend for an infection having symptoms in the same years (a) and for an infection where symptoms occur only after 10 years (b). Note:

<p>Blue rectangles represent the number of infections in the year of infection (exposure to an infection). Green “cans” represent the number of cases with symptoms; where these symptomatic cases occur in the same year as the infection (a.) or a few years later (b.) as indicated by the dashed arrow. The long-term average (e.g. 10-year average) is highlighted by a light blue oval for incidence, and by a light green oval for prevalence. The short-term average (e.g. 3-year average) is represented by a dark blue oval for incidence and purple oval for prevalence.</p