Economic Analysis of Influenza Vaccination and Treatment
Authors: Patrick Y. Lee, Eric D. Peterson
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2003)

Letters1 April 2003Economic Analysis of Influenza Vaccination and TreatmentPatrick Y. Lee, MD and Eric D. Peterson, MD, MPHPatrick Y. Lee, MDDuke Clinical Research Institute; Durham, NC 27715 (Lee, Peterson)Search for more papers by this author and Eric D. Peterson, MD, MPHDuke Clinical Research Institute; Durham, NC 27715 (Lee, Peterson)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-138-7-200304010-00025 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We agree that vaccine has limited ability to prevent influenza-like illness. However, because our study focused on preventing true influenza cases, our model's annual incidence rates were specific for influenza, not influenza-like illness. Likewise, our vaccination efficacy rate of 68% was conservative relative to the 74% found by Demicheli and colleagues (1). We also believe our assumptions regarding the value of lost workdays were fair. We assumed that worker productivity is related to wage and that 1 day of work lost throughout the year should be valued at the average wage, an assumption that is consistent with economic ...References1. Demicheli V, Rivetti D, Deeks JJ, Jefferson TO. Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001;4:CD001269. [PMID: 11687102] MedlineGoogle Scholar2. Sullivan KM, Monto AS, Longini IM. Estimates of the US health impact of influenza. Am J Public Health. 1993;83:1712-6. [PMID: 8259800] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Keitel WA, Cate TR, Couch RB, Huggins LL, Hess KR. Efficacy of repeated annual immunization with inactivated influenza virus vaccines over a five year period. Vaccine. 1997;15:1114-22. [PMID: 9269055] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Keech M, Scott AJ, Ryan PJ. The impact of influenza and influenza-like illness on productivity and healthcare resource utilization in a working population. Occup Med (Lond). 1998;48:85-90. [PMID: 9614766] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Kumpulainen V, Mkel M. Influenza vaccination among healthy employees: a cost–benefit analysis. Scand J Infect Dis. 1997;29:181-5. [PMID: 9181656] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Duke Clinical Research Institute; Durham, NC 27715 (Lee, Peterson) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoEconomic Analysis of Influenza Vaccination and Antiviral Treatment for Healthy Working Adults Patrick Y. Lee , David B. Matchar , Dennis A. Clements , Joel Huber , John D. Hamilton , and Eric D. Peterson Economic Analysis of Influenza Vaccination and Treatment Tom Jefferson and Vittorio Demicheli Economic Analysis of Influenza Vaccination and Treatment Henry Brodkin Economic Analysis of Influenza Vaccination and Treatment Afschin Gandjour Economic Analysis of Influenza Vaccination and Treatment Martin I. Meltzer and Carolyn B. Bridges Metrics 1 April 2003Volume 138, Issue 7Page: 608-609KeywordsAntiviral therapyEpidemiologyHealth careLongitudinal studiesPatientsPulmonary diseasesRandomized trialsVaccines ePublished: 1 April 2003 Issue Published: 1 April 2003 CopyrightCopyright © 2003 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...