Coste de hospitalización de la bacteriemia por Staphylococcus aureus en pediatría

Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) is the most common cause of childhood sepsis contributing to paediatric intensive care unit admission. The cost of adult SAB hospitalisation is well described globally, but limited costing information is available for children. To bridge this knowledge gap, we investigated the cost of hospitalisation in children with SAB in Australia.

An economic analysis of hospitalisation costs involving children aged <18 years with SAB admitted to Perth Children's Hospital (PCH) between January 2017 to December 2018 was completed. Children were identified from the Invasive S. aureus Infections and Hospitalisations (ISAIAH) cohort, a prospective multicentre study of paediatric SAB in Australia and New Zealand. The primary measure was mean hospitalisation cost of community-onset SAB, overall and stratified by key variables, with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) calculated by bootstrapping.

There were 61 patients with SAB admitted to PCH. 56 patients had community-onset SAB. The mean hospitalisation cost per patient with community-onset SAB was A$53,037 [95% CI $44,623 - $61,452]. The annual total cost was A$1,485,058. Hospital-onset SAB costs were significantly higher than community-onset, and there was no difference in hospitalisation costs by antibiotic susceptibility profile for community-onset SAB. The total cost of paediatric hospitalisation for community-onset SAB within the ISAIAH cohort was estimated to be over A$9 million.

This study provides the first in-depth analysis of the cost of hospitalisation for SAB in children. This study suggests that the economic burden of SAB in children is substantial, and prevention and treatment strategies should remain focused on S. aureus as a whole.

This study provides the first detailed economic evaluation of childhood Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia hospitalisations. Our study suggests that the economic burden is substantial regardless of antibiotic susceptibility, highlighting the importance of continued prevention and treatment strategies targeting S. aureus.