Economic issues of Severe Acute Respiratory Infections for influenza in Mexican children attended in a tertiary public hospital

BACKGROUND: Influenza cause a clinical and economic burden for health systems and society. It is necessary to know the cost of the disease in order to perform cost-effectiveness assessments of preventive or treatment interventions. OBJECTIVE: Assess the costs of the care of children with influenza in a third level hospital in Mexico. METHODS: Longitudinal retrospective study based on the review of clinical files of children hospitalized with influenza. The use of resources used during their hospitalization in the emergency room, general ward, or PICU was logged, and the amount of supplies were multiplied by their corresponding prices to calculate the direct medical expenses. Descriptive statistics were used, and a GLM was adjusted in order to assess the effect of the clinical characteristics of the patients on the cost. Goodness of fit tests were performed. RESULTS: 132 files were reviewed, out of which 95% were of subjects who had comorbidities. Subjects admitted at the PICU generates the highest cost (mean $29,608.62 USD), when analyzing the total cost summarizing the three clinical areas (Emergency room, general ward and PICU) by age group, the highest cost was for patients over age 10 (mean $49,674.53 USD). Comorbidities increase the cost of hospitalization by $10,000.00 USD. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza causes a significant financial burden on the health system. Children with comorbidities increase the costs and children over 10 years uses a significant amount of resources and they are not a priority in immunization program. It is necessary to perform studies on the use of resources in the first and second attention levels, which represent the highest incidence of the disease.