The cost of inpatient care for acute infectious intestinal disease in England from 1991 to 1994.

Routine data from Hospital Episode Statistics and the Compendium of Health Statistics were used to estimate costs incurred by hospitals for inpatient treatment of infectious intestinal disease in England from 1991 to 1994. The estimated cost for the three years was 83,139,685 pounds associated with 108,037 inpatient episodes. The annualised age specific incidence of patients admitted to hospital for infectious intestinal disease varied from 25 to 613 per 100,000 population and was highest in children under 4 years of age. The cost of inpatient treatment attributable to infectious intestinal disease is high, but it represents only a proportion of the total costs of diarrhoeal illness. More detailed studies are needed to describe the total economic impact of infectious intestinal disease.