Economic Implications of Influenza and Influenza Vaccine

Walsh, Julia A.; Maher, Cyrus

The objective of this chapter is to review and summarize the current economic estimates of influenza and the cost-effectiveness of its vaccines. We reviewed the published assessments of the economic costs of human seasonal and pandemic influenza internationally. Seasonal influenza costs Germany, France, and the USA between $4 and $87 billion annually. Depending upon the intensity of transmission and severity of disease, pandemic influenza may cause as many as 350 million deaths and result in economic losses topping $1 trillion – an impact great enough to create a worldwide recession. We then reviewed 100 papers primarily from more than a dozen countries which studied the cost-effectiveness of influenza vaccine in children, adults, and the elderly. These studies demonstrate that influenza vaccination is quite cost-effective among children 6 months to 18 years old, in health care workers and pregnant women, and in high-risk individuals. Remarkably, compared with the other recently introduced vaccines for children, such as rotavirus and pneumococcal polysaccharide, vaccinating children and school attendees results in societal cost savings because it obviates lost productivity and wages among infected individuals and their caretakers. Vaccination for children is recommended in the USA and in Canada, but public health policy makers in Europe have undervalued this vaccine and not recommended it so widely.