Maternal RSV vaccine could significantly reduce clinical visits, costs
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Key takeaways:
- According to Pfizer, maternal RSV vaccination could reduce medical costs by $691.8 million and nonmedical costs by $110 million.
- The study also projects infant hospitalizations due to RSV would fall by 51%.
Pfizer’s maternal vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus could significantly decrease clinical visits among infants and save more than $800 million in overall costs, according to a study presented at IDWeek.
The CDC recommended Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for pregnant people last month after the FDA approved it as a single intramuscular injection given at 32 through 36 weeks’ gestational age.
Amy W. Law, PharmD, director of global value and evidence at Pfizer, and colleagues used a cohort model to study the potential public health impact from birth to age 1 year if 100% of pregnant people received the vaccine.
They projected monthly clinical outcomes — medically attended RSV and RSV deaths — based on infant age, gestational age in weeks at birth, RSV disease and fatality rates and mother’s vaccination status, using vaccine effectiveness figures recorded in interim trial analyses.
They generated economic costs based on cases and corresponding unit costs of direct care, including hospitalizations, and indirect care.
Without widespread use of the vaccine, the researchers projected there would be 48,246 hospitalizations, 144,495 ED encounters and 399,313 outpatient clinic visits related to RSV each year among a U.S. birth cohort of 3.7 million infants.
With 100% uptake, maternal vaccination was projected to reduce hospitalizations by 51%, ED encounters by 32% and outpatient visits by 32% annually, and correspond with decreases of $691.8 million and $110 million in direct medical and nonmedical costs, respectively.
“With a maternal vaccination that is associated with clinical efficacy of 69% against severe RSV disease at 6 months, we estimated that up to 200,000 cases can be averted, and that is associated with almost $800 million total,” Law said in a press briefing.
The vaccine is one of two new options available in the U.S. to protect infants from RSV, the other being the monoclonal antibody nirsevimab, which was recommended by the CDC in August.
“This year, it's incredibly exciting that there's two preventive measures,” Natasha Halasa, MD, MPH, the Craig Weaver Professor of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said in the briefing.
“It's really important for people to read and understand that this is an important pathogen that affects many kids and all infants by the age of 2,” said Halasa, who was not involved in the research.
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Hanau A, et al. Abstract 1942. Presented at: IDWeek; Oct. 11-15, 2023; Boston.
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