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Going into another flu season, a new study reports that hospitalizing youngsters for influenza might cost up to three or 4 times the previously accepted estimates. Pediatric researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia say their locating strengthens the financial justification for broadly vaccinating children against flu.

“We found the price of influenza-related hospitalizations in youngsters was about $13,000 every — compared to most prior studies that estimated the price at three to four thousand dollars,” stated study leader Ron Keren, M.D., M.P.H., a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “This suggests that annual influenza vaccinations for young children, especially for those with particular high-risk conditions, might be a lot more cost-effective than previously thought.”

The study appears in the November problem of Pediatrics.

The researchers analyzed billing data for 727 patients up to age 21 who had been admitted to Children’s Hospital with laboratory-confirmed influenza over 4 consecutive flu seasons, from 2000 to 2004. The study team statistically adjusted the direct medical fees to account for geographic variations in those fees.

“We located a broad range of hospital costs inside the study, from approximately $7,000 every for patients treated only on the ward, to almost $40,000 each and every for kids cared for in the intensive care unit,” said Dr. Keren. Young children with low-risk conditions had hospital expenses averaging $9,000 each, compared to those with high-risk conditions, whose fees averaged $15,000 each.

The study team used risk categories defined by the American Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which has designated medically vulnerable patients who should receive influenza vaccinations. As an example, high-risk conditions consist of kids with heart disease, chronic lung disease, asthma, and disorders of hemoglobin for example sickle-cell disease.

Even in the group with the lowest hospital fees, low-risk patients hospitalized exclusively on the ward, expenses had been greater than previously estimated. For patients in that group, the hospital expenses had been $6,000 per patient, double the figure reported in prior studies. “We conclude that most prior studies systematically underestimated accurate costs of influenza by which includes young children with diseases attributed to influenza, for example pneumonia and bronchitis, which probably incur lower fees than actual influenza circumstances,” said Dr. Keren. “In contrast, we included only patients who had influenza confirmed by laboratory testing.”

The highest-cost patients inside the study were 18-to-21-year-olds and people who had certain high-risk chronic conditions such as cardiac, metabolic, and neurological and neuromuscular diseases. A 2005 study by Dr. Keren’s group identified young children with neurological and neuromuscular illnesses as getting at particularly high risk of respiratory failure caused by influenza. That investigation reinforced last year’s decision by the ACIP to add neurological and neuromuscular diseases to the list of chronic conditions that warrant annual flu vaccination.

The current study further buttresses the ACIP’s public well being recommendations for common pediatric flu immunization. “During the period we studied, the ACIP recommended that all kids aged 6 months to two years receive an influenza vaccine,” said Dr. Keren. “Since that time, the ACIP has extended the advised age from age two to age five. Our findings support the ACIP’s recommendations by strengthening the economic case for vaccinating kids against influenza. This economic case is much more compelling for children with high-risk conditions.”

Dr. Keren’s co-authors were Theoklis E. Zaoutis, M.D., M.S.C.E., Stephanie Saddlemire, M.S.P.H., Xian Qun Luan, M.S., and Susan E. Coffin, M.D., M.P.H., all from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

About the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation’s very first pediatric hospital. By way of its long-standing commitment to delivering exceptional patient care, coaching new generations of pediatric healthcare experts and pioneering significant investigation initiatives, Children’s Hospital has fostered many discoveries which have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric study program is among the largest within the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Wellness funding. In addition, its exclusive family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 430-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for kids and adolescents. For a lot more info, visit http://www.chop.edu.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
http://www.chop.edu