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Socio-Economic Burden of Influenza among Children Younger than 5 Years in the Outpatient Setting in Suzhou, China

BACKGROUND: The disease burden of children with laboratory-confirmed influenza in China has not been well described. The aim of this study was to understand the epidemiology and socio-economic burden of influenza in children younger than 5 years in outpatient and emergency department settings. METHO...

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Autores principales: Wang, Dan, Zhang, Tao, Wu, Jing, Jiang, Yanwei, Ding, Yunfang, Hua, Jun, Li, Ying, Zhang, Jun, Chen, Liling, Feng, Zijian, Iuliano, Danielle, McFarland, Jeffrey, Zhao, Genming
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3738561/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23950882
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069035
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author Wang, Dan
Zhang, Tao
Wu, Jing
Jiang, Yanwei
Ding, Yunfang
Hua, Jun
Li, Ying
Zhang, Jun
Chen, Liling
Feng, Zijian
Iuliano, Danielle
McFarland, Jeffrey
Zhao, Genming
author_facet Wang, Dan
Zhang, Tao
Wu, Jing
Jiang, Yanwei
Ding, Yunfang
Hua, Jun
Li, Ying
Zhang, Jun
Chen, Liling
Feng, Zijian
Iuliano, Danielle
McFarland, Jeffrey
Zhao, Genming
author_sort Wang, Dan
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The disease burden of children with laboratory-confirmed influenza in China has not been well described. The aim of this study was to understand the epidemiology and socio-economic burden of influenza in children younger than 5 years in outpatient and emergency department settings. METHODS: A prospective study of laboratory-confirmed influenza among children presenting to the outpatient settings in Soochow University Affiliated Children's Hospital with symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) was performed from March 2011 to February 2012. Throat swabs were collected for detection of influenza virus by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay. Data were collected using a researcher administered questionnaire, concerning demographics, clinical characteristics, direct and indirect costs, day care absence, parental work loss and similar respiratory illness development in the family. RESULTS: Among a total of 6,901 children who sought care at internal outpatient settings, 1,726 (25%) fulfilled the criteria of ILI and 1,537 were enrolled. Influenza was documented in 365 (24%) of enrolled 1,537 ILI cases. Among positive patients, 52 (14%) were type A and 313 (86%) were type B. About 52% of influenza outpatients had over-the-counter medications before physician visit and 41% visited hospitals two or more times. Children who attended daycare missed an average of 1.9 days. For each child with influenza-confirmed disease, the parents missed a mean of 1.8 work days. Similar respiratory symptoms were reported in 43% of family contacts of influenza positive children after onset of the child's illness. The mean direct and indirect costs per episode of influenza were $123.4 for outpatient clinics and $134.6 for emergency departments, and $125.9 for influenza A and $127.5 for influenza B. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza is a common cause of influenza-like illness among children and has substantial socio-economic impact on children and their families regarding healthcare seeking and day care/work absence. The direct and indirect costs of childhood influenza impose a heavy financial burden on families. Prevention measures such as influenza vaccine could reduce the occurrence of influenza in children and the economic burden on families.
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spelling pubmed-37385612013-08-15 Socio-Economic Burden of Influenza among Children Younger than 5 Years in the Outpatient Setting in Suzhou, China Wang, Dan Zhang, Tao Wu, Jing Jiang, Yanwei Ding, Yunfang Hua, Jun Li, Ying Zhang, Jun Chen, Liling Feng, Zijian Iuliano, Danielle McFarland, Jeffrey Zhao, Genming PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: The disease burden of children with laboratory-confirmed influenza in China has not been well described. The aim of this study was to understand the epidemiology and socio-economic burden of influenza in children younger than 5 years in outpatient and emergency department settings. METHODS: A prospective study of laboratory-confirmed influenza among children presenting to the outpatient settings in Soochow University Affiliated Children's Hospital with symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) was performed from March 2011 to February 2012. Throat swabs were collected for detection of influenza virus by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay. Data were collected using a researcher administered questionnaire, concerning demographics, clinical characteristics, direct and indirect costs, day care absence, parental work loss and similar respiratory illness development in the family. RESULTS: Among a total of 6,901 children who sought care at internal outpatient settings, 1,726 (25%) fulfilled the criteria of ILI and 1,537 were enrolled. Influenza was documented in 365 (24%) of enrolled 1,537 ILI cases. Among positive patients, 52 (14%) were type A and 313 (86%) were type B. About 52% of influenza outpatients had over-the-counter medications before physician visit and 41% visited hospitals two or more times. Children who attended daycare missed an average of 1.9 days. For each child with influenza-confirmed disease, the parents missed a mean of 1.8 work days. Similar respiratory symptoms were reported in 43% of family contacts of influenza positive children after onset of the child's illness. The mean direct and indirect costs per episode of influenza were $123.4 for outpatient clinics and $134.6 for emergency departments, and $125.9 for influenza A and $127.5 for influenza B. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza is a common cause of influenza-like illness among children and has substantial socio-economic impact on children and their families regarding healthcare seeking and day care/work absence. The direct and indirect costs of childhood influenza impose a heavy financial burden on families. Prevention measures such as influenza vaccine could reduce the occurrence of influenza in children and the economic burden on families. Public Library of Science 2013-08-08 /pmc/articles/PMC3738561/ /pubmed/23950882 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069035 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration, which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.
spellingShingle Research Article
Wang, Dan
Zhang, Tao
Wu, Jing
Jiang, Yanwei
Ding, Yunfang
Hua, Jun
Li, Ying
Zhang, Jun
Chen, Liling
Feng, Zijian
Iuliano, Danielle
McFarland, Jeffrey
Zhao, Genming
Socio-Economic Burden of Influenza among Children Younger than 5 Years in the Outpatient Setting in Suzhou, China
title Socio-Economic Burden of Influenza among Children Younger than 5 Years in the Outpatient Setting in Suzhou, China
title_full Socio-Economic Burden of Influenza among Children Younger than 5 Years in the Outpatient Setting in Suzhou, China
title_fullStr Socio-Economic Burden of Influenza among Children Younger than 5 Years in the Outpatient Setting in Suzhou, China
title_full_unstemmed Socio-Economic Burden of Influenza among Children Younger than 5 Years in the Outpatient Setting in Suzhou, China
title_short Socio-Economic Burden of Influenza among Children Younger than 5 Years in the Outpatient Setting in Suzhou, China
title_sort socio-economic burden of influenza among children younger than 5 years in the outpatient setting in suzhou, china
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3738561/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23950882
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069035
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