A new publication authored by a team including RID Program clinician-investigator Dr. Jeffrey Wong and RID Program collaborator Dr. Pascal Lavoie was recently published in Vaccine! This publication, entitled “Cost-effectiveness of infant and maternal RSV immunization strategies, in British Columbia, Canada“, describes results from a model that was developed using cost and epidemiological data from BC to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of five different immunization strategies in regards to lowering medical-associated costs for RSV in infants. These five strategies included current standard of care (palivizumab for high-risk children), nirsevimab use for moderate/high risk children, maternal vaccination (RSVpreF) during respiratory season pregnancies with nirsevimab for high risk children, maternal vaccination (RSVpreF) during respiratory season pregnancies with nirsevimab for high and moderate risk children, as well as nirsevimab for all infants. Overall, the second strategy (nirsevimab use for moderate and high risk children) was found to be the most cost-effective, and the strategy involving nirsevimab for all infants provided the most health benefits (but was the least cost-effective option). The other options varied in cost-effectiveness and health benefits. The findings in general will help to provide data and context to support well-informed policy decisions regarding RSV immunization for infants in Canada.
For more information, click here to access the publication!