Vaccine cost-effective for babies in poor regions

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) Routine pneumococcal vaccination of infants in developing countries is estimated to be highly cost-effective and associated with a marked reduction in childhood mortality, according to a study in The Lancet.

Pneumococcal disease, which can include infections of the lungs, blood, and brain, is a leading cause of death for infants. In the US, infants are routinely given the pneumococcal vaccine, but in developing countries, the costs and benefits of the routine vaccination have been debated.

''The public health rationale for introduction of pneumococcal vaccination in poor countries is clearly based on the benefits recorded in recent trials. As this study makes evident, the economic argument for purchase of this vaccine in the developing world is equaling compelling,'' lead author Dr Anushua Sinha, from the University of Medicine&Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, and colleagues state.

The findings are based on an economic analysis of infant pneumococcal vaccination in 72 developing countries that were eligible for Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) support as of 2005. The study compared vaccination at 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age with no vaccination.

Without pneumococcal vaccination, roughly 3.8 million children between 3 and 29 months of age will die each year. If pneumococcal vaccination coverage is comparable to that of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, the authors estimate that 262,000 deaths (7 per cent) would be prevented each year.

If every child received the pneumococcal vaccine, 407,000 deaths would be prevented annually, the researchers note.

Assuming a vaccine cost of 5 dollar per dose, the net cost of routine infant pneumococcal vaccination would be 838 million dollar.

A comparison with the per head gross domestic product suggests that vaccination would be highly cost-effective in nearly all of the countries studied, the investigators conclude.

REUTERS MQA ND1028