Applying economic thinking to an understanding of resource use in patient care is challenging given the complexities of delivering health care in a hospital. Health-care markets lack the characteristics needed to determine a "market" price that reflects the economic value of resources used. However, resource allocation in a hospital can be analyzed by using production theory to determine efficient resource use. The information provided by hospital epidemiologists is critical to understanding health-care production processes used by a hospital and developing economic incentives to promote antibiotic effectiveness and infection control.
Influenza causes a significant financial burden on the health system. Children with comorbidities increase the costs and children over 10 years uses a significant amount of resources and they are not a priority in immunization program. It is necessary to perform studies on the use of resources in the first and second attention levels, which represent the highest incidence of the disease.