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Research Paper

Potential public health impact of the adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine among people aged 50 years and older in Beijing

Pages 3735-3746 | Received 11 Feb 2021, Accepted 12 May 2021, Published online: 26 Jul 2021
 

ABSTRACT

Herpes zoster (HZ) is a painful, unilateral rash which occurs upon reactivation of latent varicella zoster virus due to age-related immunity decline or immuno-suppression. In 2019, the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) was the first vaccine to be approved in China for HZ prevention. This study aimed to estimate the potential public health impact of RZV vaccination, compared with the status quo of no vaccination, in individuals ≥50 years of age (YOA) in Beijing, by adapting the published ZOster ecoNomic Analysis (ZONA) model. We considered 5% and 50% vaccination coverage for the private market (near-term post-launch) and mass vaccination (long-term) settings respectively. In the base-case analysis of both market settings, second-dose compliance was set to 80%. Coverage and second-dose compliance rates were varied under scenario and sensitivity analyses. In the base case, mass vaccination with RZV was estimated to prevent 435,681 HZ cases, 51,558 postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) cases, and 15,703 cases of other HZ-related complications in the overall ≥50 YOA cohort over their remaining lifetime, compared with no vaccination. Under the same base-case scenario, 14,247 hospitalizations and 1,031,387 outpatient visits could be avoided. The 50–59 YOA cohort had the highest contributions to the overall reduction in HZ cases, its complications and related healthcare resource utilization. Results were robust under numerous scenario and sensitivity analyses. This analysis demonstrates the potential of RZV vaccination to substantially reduce the public health burden of HZ among individuals ≥50 YOA, and may inform appropriate vaccination strategies for HZ prevention, particularly in urban settings within China.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dapeng Yin (China CDC) for contributing toward the validation of model inputs and interpretation of the analysis results. The authors also thank Andres Donaldo-Maldonado (GSK, Wavre, Belgium), Phil Watson (GSK, Leeds, UK), Kyu-Bin Oh (GSK, Singapore, Singapore) and Sumitra Shantakumar (GSK, Singapore, Singapore) for their involvement in the analysis design and interpretation of results, Désirée Van Oorschot (GSK, Wavre, Belgium) for involvement in the design of the early phase of the study concept and historical development of the model, and Stéphane Lorenc (GSK, Wavre, Belgium) for current model maintenance. The authors thank Costello Medical for editorial assistance and manuscript coordination, on behalf of GSK. Wee Yan Ran from Costello Medical, Singapore, provided medical writing support based on the authors’ input and direction and Rohini Bose from Costello Medical, Singapore, coordinated manuscript development and editorial support. This study was funded by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

CL, CY, DC, HT, JJ and YY are employed by the GSK group of companies.

Trademark

Shingrix is a trademark of the GSK group of companies.

Authors’ contributions

Substantial contributions to study conception and design: CL, CY, YY, JJ, HT, DC; substantial contributions to analysis and interpretation of the data: CL, CY, YY, JJ DC; drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content: CL, JJ, HT, CY, YY, DC; final approval of the version of the article to be published: CL, JJ, HT, CY, YY, DC. GSK takes a commitment to convey a message in a way that would be easily understandable by healthcare providers. A plain language summary of this manuscript is provided in .

Figure 7. Plain language summary

Figure 7. Plain language summary

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website at https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2021.1932216.

Notes

1 Participant numbers are taken from the modified vaccinated cohorts, which excluded participants who did not receive the second dose of vaccine or who received a confirmed diagnosis of HZ within 1 month after the second dose.

Additional information

Funding

GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA funded this study [GSK study identifier: VEO-000009] and was involved in all study activities, including data analysis. GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA also funded all costs associated with the development and publication of this manuscript.