Residual economic burden of Streptococcus pneumoniae- and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae-associated disease following vaccination with PCV-7: a multicountry analysis

Abstract

This paper estimates the annual direct medical and caregiver costs of Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp) and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi)-associated diseases in children younger than 10 years in Canada, Germany, Mexico, and Norway after vaccination with the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-7). Per-episode direct medical costs for treating Sp- and NTHi-associated diseases were summarised from the literature for three countries, and a Delphi panel was used to estimate resource use and the per-episode costs for Mexico. Per-episode or annual costs were inflated to 2008 local currency and converted to 2008 United States (US) dollars using purchasing power parities. The analysis was for 1 year; therefore, costs were not discounted. Sp- and NTHi-associated diseases resulted in current annual national costs of $179-$260 million ($5.43-$7.89 per capita) in Canada, $290-$435 million ($3.53-$5.29 per capita) in Germany, $277-$432 million ($2.59-$4.05 per capita) in Mexico, and $20-$28 million ($4.35-$6.17 per capita) in Norway. Although acute otitis media (AOM) was associated with the lowest per-case costs, it accounted for between 45% and 88% of the national direct medical costs and between 67% and 96% of caregiver costs for Sp- and NTHi-associated diseases. Sp- and NTHi-associated diseases continue to result in substantial direct medical and caregiver costs despite current PCV-7 vaccination programs.