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Economic impact of community- and nosocomially acquired rotavirus gastroenteritis in Austria
M Frühwirth1, K Berger, B Ehlken
1Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria. Martin.Fruehwirth@uibk.ac.at
Insights
Rotavirus (RV) acute gastroenteritis incurs significant healthcare costs in Austria, particularly nosocomial infections. Disease prevention strategies are crucial for reducing the economic burden of RV gastroenteritis.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Health Economics
Background:
- Rotavirus (RV) acute gastroenteritis poses a substantial disease burden in children.
- Understanding the economic impact is vital for resource allocation and prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the average costs of rotavirus acute gastroenteritis per child in Austria.
- To analyze costs from multiple perspectives: hospital, third-party payer, pediatrician, and family.
- To determine the overall societal cost of rotavirus gastroenteritis.
Main Methods:
- A 6-month prospective, laboratory-confirmed epidemiologic study in Austrian children aged ≤48 months.
- Inclusion of 51 community-acquired and 33 nosocomially acquired RV acute gastroenteritis cases.
- Cost-of-illness analysis with annual cost extrapolation.
Main Results:
- Community-acquired RV gastroenteritis costs ranged from EUR 9.8 (pediatrician) to EUR 97.8 (hospital).
- Nosocomial RV gastroenteritis costs were significantly higher, ranging from EUR 116.8 (family) to EUR 1,494 (hospital).
- Societal costs were EUR 250 for community-acquired and EUR 2,442 for nosocomial infections, with total annual costs estimated between EUR 0.97 and EUR 7.17 million.
Conclusions:
- Rotavirus acute gastroenteritis, especially nosocomial infections, significantly impacts Austrian healthcare costs.
- Disease prevention initiatives are essential to mitigate the economic burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis.
- Further research into cost-effective prevention measures is warranted.
Objective:
To determine the average costs per child for rotavirus (RV) acute gastroenteritis from different perspectives, from the hospital's, third-party payer's, pediatrician's and family's perspectives as well as in summary from the societal one.
Materials And Methods:
This cost-of-illness study is based on data collected alongside a 6-month prospective, laboratory-confirmed epidemiologic study that evaluated the disease burden of RV infection in Austrian children < or =48 months of age. The study population at risk to contract a community- and nosocomially acquired acute gastroenteritis comprised 9,687 children. All of the 51 children with community-acquired and 33 with nosocomially acquired RV acute gastroenteritis were included in this analysis. The annual costs were estimated by means of extrapolation.
Results:
For community-acquired RV acute gastroenteritis, the average costs from the hospital's perspective were EURO (EUR) 97.8, from the third party payer's perspective 95.6 EUR, followed by 29.9 EUR and 9.8 EUR from the family's and pediatrician's perspectives, respectively. For nosocomially acquired RV acute gastroenteritis the average costs from the hospital's perspective were 1,494 EUR and from the third party payer's and family's perspectives 831 EUR and 116.8 EUR, respectively. In summary the average costs from the societal point of view for community-acquired RV acute gastroenteritis were 250 EUR and for nosocomial infections 2,442 EUR. After extrapolation the estimated total annual costs were 7.17 EUR million to 0.97 EUR million (13.6%) caused by community-acquired RV acute gastroenteritis and 6.2 EUR million (86.4%) caused by nosocomial RV acute gastroenteritis.
Conclusion:
This cost-of-illness study clearly demonstrates the great impact of RV acute gastroenteritis, mainly of nosocomially acquired infection, on medical health care costs in Austria. To cut costs efforts in disease prevention should be encouraged.