Requirement for prior approval of selected antimicrobial drugs in a pediatric institution decreases hospital expenditures and improves susceptibilities to antibiotics without compromising patient outcomes or length of hospital stays.

Our results show that chickenpox is associated with a sizable number of expensive complications and a not-insignificant case fatality rate in immunocompetent children. Routine vaccination against chickenpox could reduce the impact of this disease on the health of children in Panama