Researchers led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have conducted the first economic evaluation of next generation influenza vaccines in Thailand. The modelling study found that programs using these vaccines could provide considerable health benefits and be cost-effective, though there could be significant budget implications for the Thai government even if the vaccines can be procured at a substantial discount to the maximum threshold price.
Next-generation vaccines are currently being developed with the dual aims of broadening the strain coverage and conferring longer-lasting immunity. With the current vaccine program, there were an estimated 61 million influenza infections over the 4-year period modelled. Increasing coverage to 50% using improved vaccines reduced infections to between 23 and 57 million, and with universal vaccines to between 21 and 49 million, depending on the age groups targeted.
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