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Vaccines save thousands of lives in the United States every year, but many adults remain unvaccinated. Low rates of vaccine uptake lead to costs to individuals and society in terms of deaths and disabilities, which are avoidable, and they create economic losses from doctor visits, hospitalizations, and lost income. To identify the magnitude of this problem, we calculated the current economic burden that is attributable to vaccine-preventable diseases among US adults. We estimated the total remaining economic burden at approximately $9 billion (plausibility range: $4.7–$15.2 billion) in a single year, 2015, from vaccine-preventable diseases related to ten vaccines recommended for adults ages nineteen and older. Unvaccinated individuals are responsible for almost 80 percent, or $7.1 billion, of the financial burden.
Sixty-five percent of the estimated annual economic burden, equivalent to $5.8 billion (plausibility range: $2.0–$11.6 billion), resulted from influenza alone—a vaccine-preventable disease that causes substantial numbers of hospitalizations and morbidity each year.
It should be noted that this study examined a static annual estimate of the unvaccinated cohort, and therefore not all cases in this group are necessarily preventable by increased vaccination because of less than 100 percent vaccine efficacy.
Via Pharma Guy, Giuseppe Fattori
