Economic evaluation of the first episode of bronchiolitis

Background. - Each year, a quarter of the children younger than 24 months h as respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis. The morbidity among high-risk infants and the possible association with the development of asthma lead t o propose preventive measures whose cost-effectiveness relationship is unkn own. The present work was aimed at measuring costs of a first attack of bro nchiolitis. Method. - For children less than two years visited in the emergency departm ent, direct and indirect costs were measured according to the 'Securite Soc iale' prices. Associated morbidity, the management of care (inpatient versu s outpatient), outpatients' outcome two weeks after the visit, socioeconomi c data were recorded. Results. - One hundred eighty three children have been studied. The length of stay for 40 hospitalizations was 7.6 +/- 4.3 days. Direct costs were 37 200 +/- 22-000 FF for inpatients, and 1286 +/- 633 F for outpatients. For 1 13 outpatients' families, indirect costs were 49 working days lost. The way the child was looked after and the unemployment rate in the study were sim ilar to data provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. Conclusion. - Because of the variability of the hospitalization rate from o ne setting to another, overall costs of the epidemic cannot be evaluated. F or the policymaker the greatest costs come from the outpatient care. Others studies will be necessary to evaluate the price of future preventive measu res. (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.