RSV vaccination in older adults with health conditions is cost-effective, modeling study finds

Concentrating on vaccination packages for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to older adults with underlying well being situations is a cheap solution to scale back illness, in keeping with a brand new modeling examine within the Canadian Medical Affiliation Journal (CMAJ).

RSV infections trigger main sickness, particularly in infants and older adults, and charges of an infection improve with age. There at the moment are vaccines out there to stop illness brought on by RSV in adults, and vaccination campaigns could scale back the incidence in older adults and related well being care prices.

To know the potential impression of RSV vaccinations, researchers created a mannequin to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of vaccine packages in several age teams with completely different medical dangers. Most present cost-effectiveness research have targeted on adults aged 60 and older, however on this examine, researchers targeted on adults aged 50 and older. They analyzed a mixture of age-only, medical risk-only and age- plus medical risk-based vaccination methods.

“Methods targeted on adults with underlying medical situations that place them at elevated danger of RSV illness usually tend to be cost-effective than normal age-based methods,” writes Dr. Ashleigh Tuite, the Centre for Immunization Applications on the Public Well being Company of Canada and the Dalla Lana College of Public Well being, College of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, with co-authors.

“We discovered that vaccination of older adults could also be less expensive and more practical than no vaccination and that vaccinating folks aged 70 years and older with power medical situations is prone to be cost-effective based mostly on generally used cost-effectiveness thresholds.”

The analysis workforce notes that in some settings with greater danger of illness and better well being care prices, reminiscent of distant communities in Canada’s north, broader vaccination packages throughout age teams could also be cost-effective.

The examine was carried out by researchers on the Public Well being Company of Canada, Ottawa; Dalla Lana College of Public Well being, College of Toronto, Toronto; College of Well being Sciences, McMaster College, Hamilton; College of Epidemiology and Public Well being, College of Ottawa, Ottawa; Public Well being Ontario, Toronto; and Institut nationwide de santé publique du Québec, Québec.

A second article in CMAJ gives a simple reference for clinicians on key factors about RSV vaccination in older adults. Particularly, the Nationwide Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends RSV vaccination for adults aged 75 years and older, and adults aged 60 years and older who’re residents of nursing houses and different power care amenities. One dose of an RSV vaccine has been proven to supply safety towards illness for not less than 2 respiratory virus seasons.