The cost of upper respiratory tract infections in Canadian children.

We reviewed reports of the incidence, duration, causative organism, sequelae, and cost of upper respiratory tract infections (URI). Using these data, we projected the extent and cost of URI in Canadian children from birth to age 14. We estimated that in 1973, some 6.2 million Canadian children suffered between 23.8 and 42.3 million episodes of URI, of which 5.6 million needed medical attention; approximately 215,300 children were admitted to hospital for treatment of URI-related diseases and utilized 742,800 hospital days. Some direct costs were estimated, including physicians' fees, hospitalization, antibiotics, "cold remedies", and pharmacists' prescription fees; in 1973 these ranged from $141 million to $211 million. The common cold is as common as its name implies, and we need to intensify the search for a solution. Until this is found, both medical profession and the public should be warned of the uselessness, and possible hazards of some of the "remedies" for colds, and made aware of the vast amounts of money expended upon them.