Burden and spectrum of infectious disease in Germany 2009-2014: a multicentre study from Berlin's Municipal Hospitals

PURPOSE: This study aimed at assessing the burden and spectrum of infectious diseases (ID) in a Metropolitan population in Germany.

METHODS: A discharge database using ICD-10 codes enabled the identification of hospitalizations with infection-related diagnoses. All hospital admissions between 2009 and 2014 were analysed from 9 municipal hospitals serving approximately one-third of an urban population of 3.5 million people.

RESULTS: We identified 114,168 admissions with a primary (first-listed) ID diagnosis and 220,483 admissions with any-listed ID diagnosis, accounting for 8.9 % [95 % confidence interval (CI) 8.9-9.0 %] and 17.2 % (95 % CI 17.1-17.3) of all 1,284,559 admissions, respectively. Annually, 439,837 bed-days (range 413,707-488,520) were occupied by patients with an ID diagnosis, utilizing 22.8 % of total bed capacity. The median length of stay for patients with primary ID diagnosis and secondary ID diagnosis was 6 days (IQR 3-11) and 10 days (IQR 5-19), respectively. The most common diagnosis across all age groups was "pneumonia" (22.8 and 16.2 % of ID admissions as primary and secondary diagnosis, respectively). In-hospital mortality was 6.8 % (95 % CI 6.6-6.9) and 8.9 % (95 % CI 8.7-9.1) for ID as primary and secondary diagnosis, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Infectious diseases contribute significantly to the overall burden of disease in a health system caring for an urban German population. In view of the magnitude of ID's contribution, establishing more specialists in ID medicine and adjusting the reimbursements for managing infection-related admissions should be made a public health priority in Germany.