[Public health costs of influenza in Germany 1996- a cost-of-illness analysis]

Influenza is often seen as an unproblematic and self-limiting disease despite putting a high burden on patients as well as being of high socio-economic relevance to societies. This analysis aims to visualize that influenza deserves a rise in attention especially because of its socio-economic relevance, based on a transparent methodology. This analysis investigates the costs caused by influenza in Germany in 1996. The analysis is based on a costs model that takes in official aggregated statistical and publicly available data. A top-down approach based on the ICD-9 Code 487 is used. The costs of influenza in 1996 came to nearly DM 5 billion. Only a small proportion of this was due to direct treatment costs (DM 0.6 billion). The direct costs are made up of 304 million DM (52.8%) for ambulatory care, 214 million DM (37.1%) for prescription-only and OTC medication, and 58 million DM (10.1%) for inpatient treatment including rehabilitation measures. The bulk of the indirect costs, some DM 4.4 billion (99.5%), was due to unfitness for work, whereas only about 21 million DM (0.5%) was accounted for by occupational disability and deaths. On the basis of an estimated 4 million cases of influenza in 1996 (no epidemics), the costs work out at about 1,237 DM per patient per year. In the event of an epidemic, the German economy would be faced with correspondingly higher costs of over DM 10.5 billion. Effective prevention and treatment strategies such as better pre-season vaccination rates, early diagnosis and effective antiviral therapy can help to reduce this financial burden.