Effects of Influenza on Pediatric Hospitalization Rates

Neuzil et al studied the disease burden of influenza in a cohort of healthy children under age 15 years who were enrolled in the Tennessee Medicaid program. The rates of hospitalization for acute cardiopulmonary conditions, outpatient visits, and antibiotic treatment were determined for the years 1973–1993. Using differences in the rates of these events when influenzavirus was circulating and the rates from November to April when there was no influenza in the community, these authors calculated the morbidity attributable to influenza. In a total of over 2 million person-years of observation, the excess hospitalizations per 10,000 children per year attributed to influenza was 104 for children under 6 months of age, 50 for ages 6–11 months, 19 for ages 1–2 years, 9 for ages …