To the Editor:
In a previous issue of the European Respiratory Journal Stevens et al. 1 suggested that preschool children with wheeze account for a significant proportion of the UK healthcare budget. Most preschool wheezing is caused by viral infection and, therefore, we wondered how much preschool children with upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) without wheeze would cost the National Health Service?
On average, a preschool child will catch 6–8 URTIs per year 2, and 11% of children <14 yrs will be taken to their family doctor when unwell. These figures may be higher in younger children 3. If a child has six colds per year and is seen by a doctor for 11% of these infections, then, based on the 2.94 million UK preschool population estimate and a £16 consultation cost estimation 1, the primary care costs of viral URTI would be £31 million. This compares to the £34 million estimated by Stevens et al. 1 as the cost of preschool wheezing. Therefore, the additional cost burden of wheeze seems small.
We believe the villains are not wheeze and asthma but the respiratory viruses!
- © ERS Journals Ltd
