ABSTRACT
We estimated the economic impact of concurrent measles and rubella outbreaks in Romania during 2011-2012. We collected costs from surveys of 428 case-patients and caretakers, government records, and health staff interviews. We then estimated financial and opportunity costs. During the study period, 12,427 measles cases and 24,627 rubella cases were recorded; 27 infants had congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). The cost of the outbreaks was US $9.9 million. Cost per case was US $439 for measles, US $132 for rubella, and US $44,051 for CRS. Up to 36% of households needed to borrow money to pay for illness treatment. Approximately 17% of patients continued to work while ill to pay their treatment expenses. Our key study findings were that households incurred a high economic burden compared with their incomes, the health sector bore most costs, and CRS costs were substantial and relevant to include in rubella outbreak cost studies.
Subject(s)
Coinfection , Cost of Illness , Disease Outbreaks , Measles/epidemiology , Rubella/epidemiology , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Costs and Cost Analysis , Female , Health Care Costs , History, 21st Century , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Measles/history , Measles/virology , Public Health Surveillance , Romania/epidemiology , Rubella/history , Rubella/virology , Rubella Syndrome, Congenital/epidemiology , Rubella Syndrome, Congenital/virology , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Influenza is responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality, but there is limited information on reliable disease burden estimates, especially from middle-income countries in the WHO European Region. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the incidence of medically attended influenza-associated influenza-like illness (ILI) and hospitalizations due to severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) presenting to public healthcare facilities in Romania. PATIENTS/METHODS: Sentinel influenza surveillance data for ILI and SARI from 2011/12-2015/16, including virological data, were used to estimate influenza-associated ILI and SARI incidence/100 000 and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: The overall annual incidence of ILI and influenza-associated ILI per 100 000 persons in Romania varied between 68 (95% CI: 61-76) and 318 (95% CI: 298-338) and between 23 (95% CI: 19-29) and 189 (95% CI: 149-240), respectively. The highest ILI and influenza incidence was among children aged 0-4 years. We estimated that SARI incidence per 100 000 persons was 6 (95% CI: 5-7) to 9 (95% CI: 8-10), of which 2 (95% CI: 1-2) to 3 (95% CI: 2-4) were due to influenza. Up to 0.3% of the Romanian population were annually reported with ILI, and 0.01% was hospitalized with SARI, of which as much as one-third could be explained by influenza. CONCLUSIONS: This evaluation was the first study estimating influenza burden in Romania. We found that during each influenza season, a substantial number of persons in Romania suffer from influenza-related ILI or are hospitalized due to influenza-associated SARI.
