Foundation:

calculating the economic burden of pneumococcal disease care and treatment in preschoolers in the primary health level in Cuba, helps to base the allocation of resources and visualize the need to find ways to prevent the disease.

Objective:

to estimate the economic burden of pneumococcal disease in preschoolers in the Cecilio Ruiz de Zárate Castellón Teaching Polyclinic, in Cienfuegos.

Methods:

a study of the modeled disease cost was carried out, from the institutional perspective; time horizon was defined as the time between diagnosis and medical discharge.

Results:

direct medical cost of patients under five years old, with pneumonia, treated only at the first level of health, has an average value of 237 Cuban pesos; in patients with acute otitis media it was 120 CUP. Those attended at the primary level after a hospital discharge had an average direct medical cost of between 106.96 CUP; in cases with acute otitis media, it was 89.83 CUP and for those who discharged after meningitis or sepsis, it was 152.63 CUP with the highest average, minimum and maximum cost value due to the extension of post-discharge care. Within the processes, home visits cause the greatest expense and, of the items, salary. Pneumococcal disease represented an economic burden of more than 15 400 00 CUP.

Conclusions:

Pneumococcal disease care for the Cecilio Ruiz de Zárate Castellón Polyclinic is expensive. These estimates should be taken into account by those who make decisions to introduce pneumococcal vaccination in the Cuban child population.

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