Table 2.

Direct medical costs per case hospitalized with community-acquired rotavirus disease in European countries

^*Cost estimate for 2004. Price levels in study corrected for inflation. Cost calculations differ for countries using the cost of bed-days alone (Ireland [49]) or including diagnostics and medication (Austria, France, Hungary, Poland, England, Ireland [48], Spain (?)), as well as doctor's wages (Finland, Germany (?)) or using the reimbursement fee the hospital obtains per case (irrespective of length of stay) (Sweden). (?) Cost calculation not completely clear from the paper.

^†Calculation based on two cases only.

^‡Prices are considered as ‘severely underestimated’, and ‘expected to rise steeply to EU levels’ [36].

^§Calculation based on median bed-days and median investigations, interventions and medication. When the calculation was based on actual costs, the mean cost per case was €1409.