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Implementing a recommendation that all Americans be vaccinated against influenza may dramatically reduce health care costs and the number of people infected with seasonal influenza in the United States. "The result of that implementation was decreased flu-related mortality and reduced reliance on health care resources, compared with other provinces that had not adopted universal vaccination."
These findings come from a study published on the website of Value in Health, the official journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR).
Seasonal influenza is a contagious, airborne infection that kills more than 36,000 people each year in the United States and leads to approximately 200,000 hospitalizations.1 The illness is responsible for more than 600,000 life-years lost and direct medical costs in the range of $10 billion per year in the United States.2, 3
The research, conducted by OptumInsight Life Sciences, formerly Ingenix Life Sciences, and Chancellor Health Economics Ltd., found that with a universal vaccination policy, the number of people suffering from influenza-related illnesses each year might shrink by 2 million cases, saving $3 billion in associated health care and productivity costs. Universal vaccination may also save 34,000 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). QALY is a unit of measure that combines life years gained as a result of health interventions/health care programs with a judgment about the quality of these life years.4
"To our knowledge, this is the first economic evaluation that considers application of universal influenza vaccination in the United States," said Karen M. Clements, ScD, lead author of the study and project manager for OptumInsight Life Sciences. "Our analysis shows that there are significant clinical and economic benefits associated with a universal vaccination program, which supports the CDC's recent recommendation to expand influenza vaccination."
In February 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices called for annual influenza vaccination to include all people in the United States aged six months and older, starting with the 2010-2011 influenza season. In prior years, vaccination was recommended for children up to the age of 18, but health authorities have expanded the target population, partly because people in the 19- to 49-year-old age bracket were hit hard by the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus.5
These findings come from a study published on the website of Value in Health, the official journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR).
Seasonal influenza is a contagious, airborne infection that kills more than 36,000 people each year in the United States and leads to approximately 200,000 hospitalizations.1 The illness is responsible for more than 600,000 life-years lost and direct medical costs in the range of $10 billion per year in the United States.2, 3
The research, conducted by OptumInsight Life Sciences, formerly Ingenix Life Sciences, and Chancellor Health Economics Ltd., found that with a universal vaccination policy, the number of people suffering from influenza-related illnesses each year might shrink by 2 million cases, saving $3 billion in associated health care and productivity costs. Universal vaccination may also save 34,000 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). QALY is a unit of measure that combines life years gained as a result of health interventions/health care programs with a judgment about the quality of these life years.4
"To our knowledge, this is the first economic evaluation that considers application of universal influenza vaccination in the United States," said Karen M. Clements, ScD, lead author of the study and project manager for OptumInsight Life Sciences. "Our analysis shows that there are significant clinical and economic benefits associated with a universal vaccination program, which supports the CDC's recent recommendation to expand influenza vaccination."
In February 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices called for annual influenza vaccination to include all people in the United States aged six months and older, starting with the 2010-2011 influenza season. In prior years, vaccination was recommended for children up to the age of 18, but health authorities have expanded the target population, partly because people in the 19- to 49-year-old age bracket were hit hard by the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus.5
