Cost-Effectiveness of Pneumococcal Vaccines for Adults Aged 65 Years and Older in Argentina

Objectives: In 2017, the Argentine Ministry of Health incorporated a sequential 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13)-23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) regimen for adults aged ≥65 years to reduce pneumococcal disease burden. Cost-effectiveness analysis of PCV13-PPSV23 schedule for adults aged ≥65 years in Argentina was performed compared with PPSV23 only.

Methods: Markov model was developed. Local data were incorporated for costs and disease burden analysis. Vaccine efficacy or effectiveness was obtained from a systematic review adjusted to current local vaccine serotype circulation and vaccines coverage. A total of 3 scenarios were evaluated: main scenario according to published literature of pneumonia incidence, epidemiologic surveillance scenario based on Argentine Ministry of Health data, and an alternative scenario assuming a 50% hypothetical pneumonia incidence reduction resulting from herd immunity induced by childhood vaccination. Sensitivity analyses were done.

Results: Sequential PCV13-PPSV23 schedule showed cost-savings results in the main scenario with -$1 667 742.23 saved and 716 life-years gained (LYG). The epidemiologic surveillance scenario showed an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $2141.92 per LYG and an alternative scenario with $3740.30 per LYG. Tornado diagram shows widest bars related to adjustment for vaccine-type pneumococcal pneumonia (urine analysis) pneumonia at risk cost and pneumonia incidence rate. Monte Carlo simulation shows that >98% of simulations were cost-saving for the main scenario.

Conclusions: In the main scenario, cost-saving results were obtained considering only reduction of vaccine serotype coverage after the introduction of childhood PCV13 vaccination. In the epidemiologic surveillance and alternative scenarios, assuming a hypothetical incidence reduction, highly cost-effective results were observed.