Factors affecting an economic model for zoster vaccination.

Abstract

Results from the recent Shingles Prevention Study indicate that zoster vaccination can reduce the incidence and severity of herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), raising the possibility of a widespread vaccination programme. Such a programme would incur substantial costs, mandating the need for rigorous cost-effectiveness analyses prior to implementation. Suitably robust analyses of the cost benefits of zoster vaccination, capturing the duration of benefits and impact on quality of life resulting from vaccination, are lacking. Any economic model would need to consider current estimates of the economic burden of zoster and PHN in unvaccinated populations, as well the predicted effects of zoster vaccination on health improvements (e.g. reductions in zoster and PHN morbidity, improved quality of life, incidence of adverse effects), and costs for the health system and society at large (e.g. reductions in healthcare costs, variations in the costs of administering the vaccine) in different regions. Economic estimates of the burden of zoster and PHN in unvaccinated populations are scarce, and further studies are needed to measure the impact of these prevention strategies in different regions of the world.