Public Health and Economic Benefits of Influenza Vaccination of the Population Aged 50 to 59 Years without Risk Factors for Influenza Complications in Mexico: A Cross-Sectional Epidemiological Study

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 3; p. 188
• Main Authors: Betancourt-Cravioto, Miguel, Falcón-Lezama, Jorge Abelardo, Saucedo-Martínez, Rodrigo, Alfaro-Cortés, Myrna María, Tapia-Conyer, Roberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 24.02.2021; MDPI AG
• Subjects: adult-aged population; burden of disease; cost effectiveness; influenza; Mexico; vaccination; influenza; middle-income countries; adult-aged population; cost effectiveness; Mexico; burden of disease; vaccination
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9030188

The Mexican influenza vaccination program does not include a recommendation for people aged 50-59 years without risk factors for influenza complications, and there are limited data regarding the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating this population. To explore the clinical and economic effects of including this population in the vaccination schedule, we performed a cross-sectional epidemiological study using records (2009-2018) from Mexico's Influenza Surveillance System (SISVEFLU), death records (2010-2015) from the National Mortality Epidemiological and Statistical System, and discharge and hospitalization records (2010-2015) from the Automated Hospital Discharge System databases. A 1-year decision-analytic model was used to assess cost-effectiveness through a decision-tree based on data from SISVEFLU. The primary outcome was influenza cases avoided; with associated influenza-related events as secondary outcomes. Including the population aged 50-59 years without risk factors in Mexico's influenza immunization program would have resulted in 199,500 fewer cases; 67,008 fewer outpatient consultations; 33,024 fewer emergency room consultations; 33,091 fewer hospitalizations; 12 fewer deaths. These reductions equate to a substantial public health benefit as well as an economic benefit; yielding net savings of 49.8 million US dollars over a typical influenza season. Expansion of the current Mexican vaccination schedule to include these people would be a cost-saving and dominant strategy.