Studies examine cost-effectiveness of maternal RSV vaccination and nirsevimab in infants.

Studies examine cost-effectiveness of maternal RSV vaccination and nirsevimab in infants.


Seasonal maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination and nirsevimab for infants demonstrate cost-effectiveness, according to two studies published online Nov. 25 inches Pediatrics,

David W. Hutton, Ph.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues simulated RSV infection and disease with and without seasonal RSVpreF vaccination in half of pregnant women in the annual US birth cohort. The researchers found that 45,693 outpatient visits, 15,866 emergency department visits, and 7,571 hospitalizations among infants would be prevented each year by year-round maternal vaccination.

The societal incremental cost of vaccination was $396,280 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) saved and decreased to $163,513 per QALY saved with vaccination from September through January. Outcomes ranged from cost-saving to $800,000 per QALY saved with changes to the most influential inputs.

In a second study, Hutton and colleagues simulated health care utilization and deaths from RSV with and without nirsevimab among infants aged 0 to 7 months and aged 8 to 19 months during a single RSV season.

The researchers estimated that if half of the US birth cohort received nirsevimab, 107,253 outpatient visits, 38,204 emergency department visits, and 14,341 hospitalizations could be averted each year, which would cost $153,517 per QALY saved. For children facing a 10-fold higher risk for hospitalization, nirsevimab in the second season would cost $308,468 per QALY saved. The cost-effectiveness ratios would be between cost-saving and $323,788 per QALY saved.

“The high costs associated with these products will require those administering these vaccines, such as pediatricians, family physicians, hospitals, and health systems, to be meticulous in their ordering, inventory, and billing management practices to make them feasible to deliver in real- world settings,” writes Sean T. O’Leary, MD, MPH, from the University of Colorado School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, in an accompanying editorial.

“If these immunizations can be successfully delivered broadly, we will then see dramatic reductions in the burden of this highly morbid pathogen.”

More information:
David W. Hutton et al, Cost-Effectiveness of Maternal Vaccination to Prevent Respiratory Syncytial Virus Illness, Pediatrics (2024). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2024-066481

David W. Hutton et al, Cost-Effectiveness of Nirsevimab for Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Infants and Young Children, Pediatrics (2024). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2024-066461

Sean T. O’Leary, RSV Prevention in Infants: Promising Products, But at What Cost?, Pediatrics (2024). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2024-068261

2024 Health Day. All rights reserved.

Citation: Studies examine cost-effectiveness of maternal RSV vaccination and nirsevimab in infants (2024, November 25) retrieved 25 November 2024 from

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