Evaluating the costs and benefits of pneumococcal vaccination in adults

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Pneumococcal infection is a public health concern that disproportionately affects the young, the elderly, and the immunocompromised. There is an open debate on the implementation of polysaccharide and/or conjugate vaccines for pneumococcal diseases in adults and the elderly in many countries. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the economic profile of pneumococcal vaccines in adults in terms of costs and benefits.

Areas covered: The search for economic studies on pneumococcal vaccination was carried out in Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, and the HTA and NHS EED databases and through a manual search in journals dealing with economic evaluations. We included original articles and reviews with economic evaluation of polysaccharide 23-valent (PPV23) and/or conjugate pneumococcal vaccine 13-valent (PCV13) use in adults, the elderly, and at-risk groups to provide a systematic review of economical evaluation.

Expert commentary: Pneumococcal vaccination is strongly recommended for all adults, especially subjects at risk and the elderly. Pneumococcal vaccination with PCV13 or PPV23 in adults is good value for money and should be a priority for the decision-makers. The main issue is how vaccination could be offered.

KEYWORDS:

• Streptococcus pneumoniae
• pneumococcal vaccine
• economic evaluation
• cost-effectiveness
• budget impact
• adults
• elderly

Declaration of interest

S Boccalini, A Bechini and P Bonanni received fees from vaccine producers (GSK, SPMSD, Pfizer, Novartis) for taking part in advisory boards or expert meetings. P Bonanni has received grants for acting as an investigator in epidemiological studies co-funded by vaccine producers (Pfizer, GSK). S Boccalini has received grants for acting as an investigator in studies co-funded by vaccine producers (Pfizer, GSK). Porchia BR and Bonaccorsi G declare no conflict of interest. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.