[Direct costs of complicated chicken pox in a Colombian pediatric population].

OBJECTIVE Estimating the cost of chicken pox in a Colombian pediatric population. METHODOLOGY This was a retrospective case study which searched for all diagnosed chicken pox cases in the Napoleón Franco Pareja children's hospital (Cartagena, Colombia), during 2005-2008. The hospital's records/perspective was used. Cost related to health personnel, lab, diagnostic images and drugs were searched. The micro-costing was made at Colombian peso prices for 2010. An adjustment was made for inflation. RESULTS Mean hospital costs were $ 898,766 (Q1: $ 197,348; Q3: $ 1,195,262). Mean hospital cost per day was $ 221,777 (Q1: $ 97,027; Q3: $ 293,740). Mean cost <1 year-old patients was $ 980,742 (Q1: $ 905,708; Q3: $ 1,026,031). Mean cost was $ 105,833 in 5-12 year-old patients (Q1: $ 39,568; Q3: $ 891,824). CONCLUSIONS The results were similar to those of previous studies (in Panama and some developed countries) highlighting relatively high illness costs in Colombia. These results increase the evidence in favor of vaccination and invite Colombian public health officials to consider introducing a chicken pox vaccine into Colombia.