[Socioeconomic effects of human brucellosis].

The socio-economic cost of human brucellosis is analyzed. One hundred and seven patients are included in this study, 75 males (70.09%) and 32 females (29.91), diagnosed of brucellosis in the Internal Medicine Department of the Regional Hospital "Carlos Haya" in Málaga from the 1st of October 1984 to the 31st of December 1986. Thirty seven patients (34.57%) presented some kind of complication. Seventy eight cases (72.89%) were admitted to the hospital resulting in a total of 1.005 hospital admissions with a mean hospital stay of 12.88 days. The total economic cost was 30.724.962 pesetas with a mean patient cost of 287.149 pesetas. The total number of work absence days was 5.291 with a mean 101.7 days per patient and with an accumulated cost in this respect of 49.053.151 pesetas. The total money loss was 84.307.488 pesetas with a mean of 787.920 pesetas per patient. This high cost, together with the high incidence of the disease throughout most of our national territory, clearly justify the need for aggressive preventive measures.