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Quadrivalent influenza vaccine may save lives, lower medical costs

An age-stratified static model showed that if the quadrivalent influenza vaccine was used instead of the trivalent vaccine, dozens of influenza cases, general practitioner consultations and lost working days per 100,000 person-years would have been avoided, and thousands of dollars would have been saved for three Latin American countries, according to a study published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics.

Although the findings are from outside the United States, the researchers said their findings are of benefit to all countries.

“Our study provides the first quantitative estimates of the potential benefits of [quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV)] should it replace [trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV)] in the national immunization programs in Brazil, Colombia and Panama,” Aurélien Jamotte, Creativ-Ceutical, said in a press release. “We found that QIV would provide health benefits in the three countries when considering influenza circulation from last seasons.”

The researchers used their model on population groups targeted by local vaccination recommendations — young children, adults with risk factors and the elderly — over the seasons from 2010 to 2014 in Brazil, 2007 to 2014 in Colombia (but not 2009), and 2006 to 2014 (but not 2009) in Panama. In Brazil, they found that replacing TIV with QIV across the population groups prevented an average of 168 deaths, avoided 89 general practitioner (GP) consultations, 107 lost working days, and total societal costs of $6,200. In Colombia, using QIV across all population groups prevented an average of 34 influenza cases, avoided 13 to 25 GP consultations, 15 to 30 lost working days, and $992 to $12,666 in total societal costs. In Panama, using QIV across all population groups prevented an average of 113 deaths, avoided 55 to 82 GP consultations, 71 to 111 lost working days, and between $2,996 and $33,694 in total societal costs. All figures were per 100,000 person years.

The researchers stated that their findings are consistent with similar research conducted in Australia and Europe.  

Jamotte and colleagues acknowledged their research had some limitations, stating that there were data gaps regarding the circulation of two B lineages and the burden of influenza in Latin American countries; use of robust foreign data from a U.S. study to determine the QIV’s impact in Brazil; and the influenza-distribution models were not considered to be age-specific. Regardless, the researchers said they believed the QIV had benefits.

“QIV is expected to provide benefits in most parts of the world since B strains represent on average 20% to 30% of circulating strains around the world. These proportions can be as high as 87% during some seasons in some countries,” Jamotte said in the release. “Whatever the country considered, QIV is expected to further reduce the public health and economic burden of influenza compared to TIV.”

Last year, the FDA approved two seasonal cell-derived influenza vaccines that protect against the four major strains of influenza A and B viruses: Flucelvax Quadrivalent, indicated for patients aged 4 years and older, and Afluria Quadrivalent, for patients aged 18 years and older. – by Janel Miller

Disclosure: Jamotte reports being an employee of Creativ-Ceutical, which received funding from Sanofi-Pasteur for this study. Please see the study for a full list of the other author’s relevant financial disclosures.