Economic impact of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in managed care

Conjugate pneumococcal vaccines may soon allow immunization of healthy infa nts against Streptococcus pneumoniae infection and protection against relat ed episodes of meningitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, and otitis media. To meas ure the potential economic impact of such an infant vaccination, a team of investigators estimated the costs of specific pneumococcal dis-eases. Assum ptions were based on health plan databases, surveys of parents, and publish ed data. On the basis of preliminary analysis, the researchers estimated th at the overall annual savings to society would be $763 million, and the sav ings for health plans would be $307 million. These estimated savings will n eed to be balanced against per-dose vaccination costs, which are unknown.