Cost of Bordetella pertussis illness in tertiary hospitals in Argentina. / Cost of Bordetella pertussis illness in tertiary hospitals in Argentina.

ABSTRACT

UNLABELLED The National Immunization Commission and the National Program for the Control of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (Programa Nacional de Control de Enfermedades Inmunoprevenibles, ProNaCEI) updated the immunization policy in relation to Bordetella pertussis (BP) in 2009 in order to improve the control of this disease in accordance with international recommendations. To evaluate the financial impact of this new immunization policy, we must first know the cost on the health system of having a hospitalized or outpatient child infected with BP. The objective of this study was to describe the profile of costs of hospitalized or outpatient children with laboratory-confirmed BP infection in three hospitals of Argentina. This was a prospective study of the cost of BP in the period between December 2010 and March 2012. RESULTS: The total cost for the entire cohort was 1,170,663.32 ARS (236,497.64 USD); direct medical costs were 1,124,052.31 ARS (227,081.27 USD); indirect costs and out-of-pocket expenses were 46,611 ARS (9416.6 USD). From this data, it is possible to conclude that the total average cost per patient was 10 546.52 ARS (95