Abstract
BackgroundBurden of disease studies intend to improve public health decision-making and to measure social and economic impact in population. The objective of this study was to describe the burden of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in Ecuador between 2011 and 2015.MethodsFive-year period morbidity and mortality data available from national agencies of statistics was analyzed to estimate the burden of disease attributable to acute respiratory infections. Cases and deaths registered were grouped according to their ICD-10 code into three diagnostic groups: Acute upper respiratory infections (J00-J06), Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18), and Bronchitis and other acute lower respiratory infections (J20-J22, J85, J86). Disability-adjusted life years stratified by diagnostic and age group were calculated using the “DALY” package for R. The productivity loss in monetary terms was estimated using the human capital method.ResultsOver the 5-year period studied there were a total of 14.84 million cases of acute respiratory infections, with 17 757 deaths reported (0.12%). The yearly burden of disease ranged between 98 944 to 118 651 disability-adjusted life years, with an estimated average loss of productivity of US$152.16 million (±19.6) per year. Approximately 99% of the burden can be attributed to years life lost due to premature mortality in population under 5 years old and over 60 years-old.ConclusionsThe burden of acute respiratory infections remained steady during the analyzed period. Evidence-based prevention and control policies to tackle acute respiratory infections in Ecuador should focus on the population at extreme ages of life.
Highlights
Respiratory infections are the greatest single contributor to the overall burden of disease in the world[1,2]
The burden of acute respiratory infections remained steady during the analyzed period
Evidence-based prevention and control policies to tackle acute respiratory infections in Ecuador should focus on the population at extreme ages of life
Summary
Respiratory infections are the greatest single contributor to the overall burden of disease in the world[1,2]. According to the Global Burden of Disease study lower respiratory infections are the leading cause of Years of Life Lost (YLL) in Ecuador [3]. Burden estimation of pneumonia and other acute respiratory infections remains an urgent need in order to evaluate their impact and to assess the cost-effectiveness of public health interventions[5]. Same as in ILI, definition and diagnosis of other viruses and bacterial infections is not strong enough to characterize the attribution of burden. Considering these limitations, we propose the estimation of burden of acute respiratory disease in order to assess an approximation of the impact of this set of diseases using national databases available during the 2011–2015 period. The objective of this study was to describe the burden of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in Ecuador between 2011 and 2015
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