Common Waterborne Diseases Cost US Healthcare System Half-a-Billion Dollars Annually

"When people think about [giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, and Legionaires' disease], they usually think of a simple case of diarrhea, which is a nuisance but quickly goes away," said the author of a study on the costs of treating common waterborne diseases. "However, these infections can cause severe illnesses that often result in hospital stays of more than a week, which can quickly drive up health care costs." The author estimated the total costs for hospitalization for the three diseases was between $154-539 million, including $44-147 million in direct government payments for Medicare and Medicaid. Check out the full story at Water Online: http://www.wateronline.com/article.mvc/Waterborne-Diseases-Could-Cost-Over-500M-0001

Article posted by Maureen Tan
on Monday July 26th, 2010.