[Subsidized TBE vaccination appears cost-effective in a life-time perspective]. / Allmän TBE-vaccination ger hälsovinst till rimlig kostnad - Viktigt att se till livstidsperspektivet ­ alla långsiktiga konsekvenser måste beaktas.

Given the setting of Stockholm County, a recently published health-economic analysis shows that the cost per Quality-adjusted life year (QALY) of a free TBE vaccinations program is below generally acceptable cost-effectiveness thresholds in Sweden. A report from the Public Health Agency (PHA), based on similar input data, shows that it is not cost effective to subsidize TBE vaccination in the Stockholm county. The main difference in the two analyses is the time horizon for the analyses; a life-time perspective versus 10-year perspective. Health economics of vaccination strategies should be based on a long time perspective and especially when the disease is more severe in older adults, i.e. TBE. Health-care decision-makers should be aware of the importance of the time horizon for the results when considering these evaluations in prioritization decisions. With a life-time perspective a TBE-vaccination program appears cost-effective.

Estimating costs and health outcomes of publicly funded tick-born encephalitis vaccination: A cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND: The number of notified cases of Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) in Sweden has been increasing the past years despite the increased use of TBE-vaccine not subsidized by the healthcare system. Stockholm County is a high endemic area and an earlier study has shown that low-income households have lower vaccination coverage even when they are at high risk. This paper aims to determine the cost-effectiveness of a publicly funded TBE vaccination program in Stockholm. METHODS: In three different cohorts with individuals aged 3, 40 or 50 years, long-term costs and health outcomes of an out-of-pocket strategy (53% of the cohort is vaccinated on their own expenses) and a structured vaccination program (full cohort is vaccinated covered by the publicly funded health care system), were estimated using a Markov model. The Markov model predicts the costs and effects in term of Quality-adjusted Life Years (QALYs) over a lifetime horizon using a third-party healthcare payer perspective. The primary results are presented as an incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) indicating the additional cost required to achieve one additional QALY with the structured vaccination program. RESULTS: The results show that the structured vaccination program is associated with a gain in QALYs and increased costs compared with an out-of-pocket strategy. The calculated ICERs were 27 761, 99 527 and 160 827 SEK/QALY in cohorts of age 3, 40 and 50, respectively. The sensitivity analyses showed that the results are robust when varying different parameters. CONCLUSION: Given the setting of Stockholm county, this analysis shows a cost per QALY of a free vaccinations program, especially for children of 3 years old, below generally acceptable cost-effectiveness thresholds in Sweden.

Control of Lyme borreliosis and other Ixodes ricinus-borne diseases.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) and other Ixodes ricinus-borne diseases (TBDs) are diseases that emerge from interactions of humans and domestic animals with infected ticks in nature. Nature, environmental and health policies at (inter)national and local levels affect the risk, disease burden and costs of TBDs. Knowledge on ticks, their pathogens and the diseases they cause have been increasing, and resulted in the discovery of a diversity of control options, which often are not highly effective on their own. Control strategies involving concerted actions from human and animal health sectors as well as from nature managers have not been formulated, let alone implemented. Control of TBDs asks for a "health in all policies" approach, both at the (inter)national level, but also at local levels. For example, wildlife protection and creating urban green spaces are important for animal and human well-being, but may increase the risk of TBDs. In contrast, culling or fencing out deer decreases the risk for TBDs under specific conditions, but may have adverse effects on biodiversity or may be societally unacceptable. Therefore, in the end, nature and health workers together must carry out tailor-made control options for the control of TBDs for humans and animals, with minimal effects on the environment. In that regard, multidisciplinary approaches in environmental, but also medical settings are needed. To facilitate this, communication and collaboration between experts from different fields, which may include patient representatives, should be promoted.

Vaccines for tick-borne diseases and cost-effectiveness of vaccination: a public health challenge to reduce the diseases' burden.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and Lyme borreliosis (LB) are tick-borne diseases (TBDs), and both present an increasing burden worldwide. Vaccination as public health intervention could be the most effective way to reduce this burden. TBE vaccines are available, but vaccines against LB are still in the phase of development. At the European level, TBE vaccines are likely under-administered to effectively prevent the disease. Cost-effectiveness of vaccination is a helpful tool in the decision making process to include novel vaccines in the national vaccination program or to extend current programs, and its role is only increasing. Cost-effectiveness studies on TBE vaccines have been performed in Slovenia, Sweden, Finland and Estonia so far. Cost-effectiveness studies with the novel vaccines against LB are expected to be performed in the near future.

The Willingness to Pay for Vaccination against Tick-Borne Encephalitis and Implications for Public Health Policy: Evidence from Sweden.

The increasing incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Sweden and several other European countries has sparked a discussion about the need for a public vaccination strategy. However, TBE vaccination coverage is incomplete and there is little knowledge about the factors influencing vaccination behavior. Based on a survey of 1,500 randomly selected respondents in Sweden, we estimate vaccination coverage in areas with different TBE risk levels and analyze the role of vaccine price and other factors influencing the demand for vaccination. First, we find that the average rate of TBE vaccination in Sweden is 33% in TBE risk areas and 18% elsewhere. Income, age and risk-related factors such as incidence of TBE in the area of residence, frequency of visits to areas with TBE risk, and experience with tick bites are positively associated with demand for TBE vaccine. Next, using contingent valuation methodology, we estimate the willingness to pay for TBE vaccination among the unvaccinated respondents and the effect of a possible subsidy. Among the unvaccinated respondents in TBE risk areas, we estimate the mean willingness to pay for the recommended three doses of TBE vaccine to be 465 SEK (approximately 46 euros or 40% of the current market price). We project that a subsidy making TBE vaccines free of charge could increase the vaccination rate in TBE risk areas to around 78%, with a larger effect on low-income households, whose current vaccination rate is only 15% in risk areas. However, price is not the only factor affecting demand. We find significant effects on vaccination behavior associated with trust in vaccine recommendations, perceptions about tick bite-related health risks and knowledge about ticks and tick-borne diseases. Hence, increasing knowledge and trust, as well as ease of access to vaccinations, can also be important measures for public health agencies that want to increase the vaccination rate.

Review of tick-borne encephalitis and vaccines: clinical and economical aspects.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) disease is an increasing burden not only locally but also globally. In most endemic countries, vaccination coverage is too low to reduce the TBE burden significantly; however, vaccination is the most effective protection against TBE, with various vaccines currently available. In spite of rising awareness of TBE, little attention is directed toward the health economics of the disease. The purpose of the present review is to compile information on TBE and its explicit clinical and economical aspects. Given the scarcity of studies, the authors conclude that more attention is needed for health economics of TBE. Notably, this would help establish guidance on efficient policies for TBE prevention, reduce disease burden and achieve population health benefits.

[Cost-benefit ratio of tick-borne encephalitis vaccination of French troops based in Kosovo]. / Etude coût-bénéfice de la vaccination contre l'encéphalite à tique chez les militaires français au Kosovo.

BACKGROUND: French military troops based in Kosovo are exposed to Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) biorisk. An efficacious vaccine is available to prevent this disease, burdened by high morbidity and mortality. The epidemiologic features of TBE in Kosovo are unprecise. To help the French Department of Defense to make a decision about immunization against TBE, we performed a cost-benefit analysis. METHODS: By a Bayes'analysis decision, we have estimated the net benefits for a three-injection vaccine program versus absence of vaccination, for all French military troops based in Kosovo. Time expectancy was 4 years. Through the review of several medical reports, we have estimated the useful parameters for this study: morbidity incidence rate, mortality rate, sequelae rate, efficacy vaccine and side effects. We have chosen as initial hypothesis a sero-conversion rate of 1,080 per 100,000 men-by-year. Human life was valorized in francs, by calculating the allowance paid by Department of Defense to the family in case of death or for sequelae. RESULTS: Net benefits arised to 2.17 millions of francs. The vaccine program cost was 25.0 millions of francs. 140 cases of encephalitis viruses were saved by vaccination. Nevertheless a sensibility analysis has shown that results are well reliable with TBE incidence rate. CONCLUSION: The break even point being close to the incidence rate of the initial assumption, the decision to vaccine all French military troops depends at the same time on a better knowledge of the incidence of the disease in Kosovo, but also of the number of potentially avoided cases of tick-borne encephalitis and of the programs of vaccination concerning this disease of the other countries forming the United Nations Organization forces.

[Health economics of early summer meningoencephalitis in Austria. Effects of a vaccination campaign 1981 to 1990]. / Gesundheitsökonomische Aspekte der Frühsommermeningoenzephalitis in Osterreich. Auswirkungen der Impfkampagne 1981 bis 1990.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) was until the early 1980s among the most frequent causes of viral induced central-nervous infectious diseases in Austria. Since 1981 the vaccination was forced by intensive media campaigns. Aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the media campaigns and to evaluate them under health economic criteria. The number of hospitalized TBE-cases declines from 1981 to 1990, the linear trend shows a reduction from 427 to 109. If the linear trend from 1971 to 1980 would have continued the respective number in 1990 would have been 585 cases. Thus the model shows that from 1981 to 1990 more than 50% or 2,690 out of 5,368 possible cases are prohibited, from 1991 to 2000 based on the 1990 vaccination rate approximately 85% or 500 cases annually. In the age group 7 to 14 years the proportion of protected exposed is almost 97%. The loss of quality of life is higher than represented by the inpatient statistics. Many of the TBE victims have chronic impairments, mainly due to paresis and depression. Based on the 1990 cost data economic benefits for the social insurance companies in the decade 1981 to 1990 are AS 147 millions for inpatient care, respectively AS 108 millions for loss of productivity and AS 77 millions for early retirement, resulting in total benefits of AS 331 millions. The estimated benefits for 1991 to 2000 based on 1990 cost data are AS 270 millions for inpatient care, AS 200 millions for loss of productivity, and AS 368 for early retirement (total AS 828 millions).