Volume 5, Number 5—October 1999
Research
The Economic Impact of Pandemic Influenza in the United States: Priorities for Intervention
Table 4
Item | Probability of side effectb | Cost of case of side effect ($)b | Lower-cost scenario ($/patient) | Upper-cost scenario ($/patient) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Assumed cost of vaccinationa (excluding side effects) | 18 | 59 | ||
Side effects | ||||
Mildc | 0.0325 | 94 | 3.05 | 3.05 |
GBSd | 0.000002 | 100,800 | 0.20 | 0.20 |
Anaphylaxis | 0.000000157 | 2,490 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
Total cost per patient | 21.26 | 62.26 |
aThe cost of vaccination includes the cost of the vaccine, the cost of administering the vaccine, value of time spent by a person traveling to and from the place of vaccination, and patient-associated travel costs. Included in the costs of the vaccine are any costs associated with the rapid production of a larger-than-usual number of doses and the rapid delivery and correct storage of doses at vaccination sites around the country. For $18, the costs were assumed to be $10 for vaccine + administration, $4 patient time (half hour), $4 patient travel costs. For $59, the costs were assumed to be $20 for vaccine + administration (this could include the cost of two doses), $32 patient time (two trips at 2 hours per trip), and $7 patient travel costs. For comparison, a review of 10 published articles found a range of $5 to $22 per dose of vaccine, with a medium [sic] cost of $14 per dose (10). Additional details are provided in the background paper (see methods section). These breakdowns are illustrations only of what might be deemed reasonable estimates of time and cost. Actual costs might vary substantially and will depend on the number of doses needed to achieve a satisfactory protective response, as well as the efficiency of giving vaccinations to millions of persons.
bProbabilities and average cost of treating each category of side effect were derived from (3).
cMild side effects include sore arms due to vaccination, headaches, and other minor side effects that may require a visit to a physician or may cause the patient to miss 1 to 2 days of work.
dGBS = Guillain Barré syndrome.
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