Cost-effectiveness of live attenuated influenza vaccine versus inactivated influenza vaccine among children aged 24-59 months in the United States.
BACKGROUND
The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recently expanded the influenza vaccine recommendation to include children 24-59 months of age. In a large head-to-head randomized controlled trial, live attenuated influenza vaccine, trivalent (LAIV) demonstrated a 54% relative reduction in culture-confirmed influenza illness compared with trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) among children aged 24-59 months.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relative cost and benefit between two influenza vaccines (LAIV and TIV) for healthy children 24-59 months of age.


METHODS
Using patient-level data from the clinical trial supplemented with cost data from published literature, we modeled the cost-effectiveness of these two vaccines. Effectiveness was measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALY) and cases of influenza avoided. The analysis used the societal perspective.


RESULTS
Due to its higher acquisition cost, LAIV increased vaccination costs by USD7.72 per child compared with TIV. However, compared with TIV, LAIV reduced the number of influenza illness cases and lowered the subsequent healthcare use of children and productivity losses of parents. The estimated offsets in direct and indirect costs saved USD15.80 and USD37.72 per vaccinated child, respectively. LAIV had a net total cost savings of USD45.80 per child relative to TIV. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses indicated that the model was robust across a wide range of relative vaccine efficacy and cost estimates.


CONCLUSIONS
Due to its increased relative vaccine efficacy over TIV, LAIV reduced the burden of influenza and lowered both direct health care and societal costs among children 24-59 months of age.
Luce
Bryan R
BR
United BioSource Corporation, 7101 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA. bryan.luce@unitedbiosource.com
Nichol
Kristin L
KL
Belshe
Robert B
RB
Frick
Kevin D
KD
Li
Su Xia
SX
Boscoe
Audra
A
Rousculp
Matthew D
MD
Mahadevia
Parthiv J
PJ
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D009819:Office Visits / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use
D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated