OBJECTIVE: To provide a preliminary assessment of the economic value of vaccinating 1- year old children against varicella in Germany. METHODS: We developed a decision-analytic model to compare the clinical and economic outcomes of a universal varicella vaccination program versus no vaccination in infants. The model predicts the clinical effects, direct and indirect costs, and the cost-effectiveness of mass vaccination. Model input data were mainly derived from a large survey conducted across Germany and were complemented by literature data and expert estimates. In the survey, pediatricians, GP’s and internists provided information extracted from 1334 randomly selected varicella patient records. Epidemiological data but also medical resource utilization such as physician consultations, medication, and hospitalization due to disease complications was captured. Additionally, work loss of caregivers and infected employed individuals was retrieved from the records. Since the survey was completed only very recently, the analysis of the model input data is preliminary. Valuation of the resources used was done by applying unit costs obtained from official medical tariff lists, drug compendiums, and other statistics. Vaccine efficacy was assumed to be between 90% and 97%, and vaccination coverage between 50% and 80%. Future costs were discounted at 5%. The perspective taken is that of the society. RESULTS: The preliminary findings presented here apply to a timeframe of 30 years. Over that period, the model predicts that universal children vaccination could prevent between 7.4 and 11.2 million varicella infections, and between 53,000 and 88,000 major complications depending on the assumptions taken. Universal vaccination also appears to be economically worthwhile with a benefit-cost ratio of between 2.1 and 1.9. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggests that universal varicella vaccination provide significant clinical and economic benefits to the German society. A final analysis is in process, which will be an important information source for healthcare decision makers.