Economic Burden of Medically Attended Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections Among Privately Insured Children Under 5 Years of Age in the USA.

BACKGROUND: The cost of medically attended RSV LRI (lower respiratory infection) is critical in determining the economic value of new RSV immunoprophylaxes. However, most studies have focused on intermittent RSV encounters, not the episode of care that captures the entirety of RSV illness. METHODS: We created age- and condition-specific cohorts of children under 5 years of age using MarketScan® data (2015-2019). We contrasted aggregating healthcare costs over RSV-LRTI episodes to ascertaining costs based on RSV-specific encounters only. Economic burden was estimated by multiplying costs per encounter or per episode by their respective incidence rates. RESULTS: Average cost was higher per episode than per encounter regardless of settings (inpatient: $28,586 vs. $18,056 and outpatient/ED: $2099 vs. $407 for infants). Across ages, the economic burden was highest for infants and RSV-LRTI requiring inpatient care, but the burden in outpatient/ED settings was disproportionately higher than costs due to higher incidence rates (for inpatient vs. outpatient episodes: $226,403 vs. $101,269; for inpatient vs. outpatient encounters: $151,878 vs. $38,819 per 1000 infant-years). For high-risk children, cost and burden were up to 3-10 times higher, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: With a comprehensive stratification by settings and risk condition, the encounter- versus episode-based estimates provide a robust range for policymakers' economic appraisal of new RSV immunoprophylaxes.

Cost of Medically Attended RSV Among Medicaid Beneficiaries ≤2 Years of Age by Underlying Risk Condition.

We evaluated costs for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) medical attention in children aged <24 months using MarketScan® Medicaid Multi-State claims database 2015-2019. Average cost was highest for RSV hospitalization with intensive care unit (ICU) admission ($23 514-24 835), followed by no ICU admission ($8039-8990), ED visits ($463-482), and outpatient visits ($145-151). Cost was higher for those with comorbidities.

Cost and utility in immunocompromised subjects who developed herpes zoster during the randomized V212 inactivated varicella-zoster vaccine (ZVIN) trial.

Objectives: Immunocompromised subjects are at increased risk for herpes zoster (HZ) and HZ-related complications, such as post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). We describe health utilities, health care resource utilization (HCRU), productivity loss and health care costs in recipients of autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (Auto-HSCT) who developed confirmed HZ in the phase 3 clinical trial. Methods: HCRU, costs, and EQ-5D-3L utility were assessed for 155 confirmed HZ cases observed after receiving inactivated varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vaccine (ZVIN) or placebo. In a prospective, longitudinal 6-month follow up, costs and utilities were analyzed for two health states, HZ without PHN and HZ with PHN. Results: There was a clinically relevant difference in utility between HZ without PHN (mean 0.814) and HZ with PHN (0.729). The disutility for HZ without PHN was estimated to -0.117 and to -0.186 for HZ with PHN. Direct costs (2017 USD) associated with a HZ without PHN episode and HZ with PHN episode was estimated at $3,412 and $3,711, respectively, of which hospitalizations accounted for 90% of the costs. Expert opinion: Both HZ and PHN are associated with considerable disutility in recipients of Auto-HSCT. Costs were comparable to published estimates in other immunocompromised subjects. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (CT.gov identifier: NCT01229267).

Serological response to influenza vaccination among adults hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia.

Ninety-five adults enrolled in the Etiology of Pneumonia in the Community study with negative admission influenza polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests received influenza vaccination during hospitalization. Acute and convalescent influenza serology was performed. After vaccination, seropositive (≥1:40) hemagglutination antibody titers (HAI) were achieved in 55% to influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, 58% to influenza A(H3N2), 77% to influenza B (Victoria), and 74% to influenza B (Yamagata) viruses. Sixty-six (69%) patients seroconverted (≥4-fold HAI rise) to ≥1 strain. Failure to seroconvert was associated with diabetes, bacterial detection, baseline seropositive titers for influenza B (Yamagata), and influenza vaccination in the previous season.

Herpes zoster incidence and cost in patients receiving autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplant.

OBJECTIVE: Among patients receiving autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (Auto-HSCT), this study estimated the incidence of herpes zoster (HZ), compared healthcare costs among patients with and without HZ, and evaluated antiviral prophylaxis (AP) use. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted using data from a large health plan to identify patients ≥18 years with ≥1 claim for an Auto-HSCT procedure during 2006-2011 (n = 2,530). Patients were followed from date of Auto-HSCT until risk-end date, defined as development of HZ, end of enrollment, death, or December 31, 2011. HZ incidence was calculated as cases observed after Auto-HSCT, divided by accrued time-at-risk in person-years (PY). AP use and duration were defined by prescription fills. One-year medical and pharmacy costs were calculated as combined health plan and patient paid amounts. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: HZ incidence and healthcare costs were calculated using administrative claims data. RESULTS: Overall HZ incidence was 62.2/1,000 PY (95% CI = 54.3-70.9). Most (72.3%) patients were prescribed AP. During the first 90-days post-Auto-HSCT, patients without AP had increased incidence (151.6/1,000 PY, 95% CI = 88.3-242.6) compared to those prescribed AP pre- (30.9/1,000 PY, 95% CI = 11.3-67.2) or post-Auto-HSCT (33.0/1,000 PY, 95% CI = 13.3-67.9). Total adjusted mean 1-year all-cause healthcare costs were $74,875 for patients who developed HZ and $70,279 for patients who did not (difference = $4,596 (cost ratio = 1.07, 95% CI = 0.86-1.32, p = .566)). CONCLUSIONS: HZ incidence was high, despite AP use. Mean annual healthcare costs were higher for patients with HZ, but the difference was not statistically significant. An effective vaccine against HZ could be useful in decreasing both incidence of and cost for HZ in this population.

Clinical development of a recombinant Ebola vaccine in the midst of an unprecedented epidemic.

The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak caused over 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths. Merck & Co. Inc., Kenilworth, NJ USA and NewLink Genetics are working with private and public partners to develop and license an Ebola vaccine that was evaluated extensively during the outbreak. The vaccine referred to as V920 is a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) in which the VSV-G envelope glycoprotein (GP) is completely replaced by the Zaire ebolavirus GP (rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP). Eight Phase I and four Phase II/III clinical trials enrolling approximately 17,000 subjects were conducted in parallel to the outbreak to assess the safety, immunogenicity, and/or efficacy of V920. Immunogenicity data demonstrate that anti-GP antibodies are generally detectable by ELISA by 14days postvaccination with up to 100% seroconversion observed by 28days post dose. In addition, the results of a ring vaccination trial conducted by the WHO and their partners in Guinea suggest robust vaccine efficacy within 10days of receipt of a single dose of vaccine. The vaccine is generally well-tolerated when administered to healthy, non-pregnant adults. The development of this vaccine candidate in the context of this unprecedented epidemic has involved the close cooperation of large number of international partners and highlights what we as a public health community can accomplish when working together towards a common goal. Study identification: V920-001 to V920-012. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV identifiers: NCT02269423; NCT02280408; NCT02374385; NCT02314923; NCT02287480; NCT02283099; NCT02296983; NCT02344407; NCT02378753; NCT02503202.

Duration of Antiviral Prophylaxis and Risk of Herpes Zoster among Patients Receiving Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants: A Retrospective, Observational Study.

INTRODUCTION: There are no real-world data on antiviral prophylaxis (AP) duration and risk of herpes zoster (HZ) given AP duration in patients receiving autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants (auto-HSCT). The objectives of this study are to describe the duration of AP and to compare incidence of HZ by AP duration in auto-HSCT patients. METHODS: This is a retrospective, observational database (Marketscan®) study. This study included patients ≥18 years old who had auto-HSCT during 2009-2013, had chemotherapy within 60 days prior to auto-HSCT (latest chemotherapy date within the 60 days was the study enrollment date), and had continuous health plan enrollment for at least 365 days before and after the study enrollment date. AP duration was the sum of days supply of all AP prescriptions from 30 days before to 365 days after the study enrollment date. Patients were followed from the study enrollment date to the end of continuous health plan enrollment, death, or December 31, 2014 to assess HZ incidence. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the association between the risk of HZ and AP duration. RESULTS: This study identified 1959 eligible auto-HSCT patients, of whom 93.0% were prescribed AP. Average AP duration was 220 days (SD = 122), while 200 (11%) patients had AP for ≥1 year. HZ incidence was 42.4/1000 person-years (PY) (95% CI 36.5, 49.0) for the overall auto-HSCT cohort. Among patients who received AP, duration of AP prescriptions and HZ incidence were inversely related. Compared with patients who were on AP for 1-89 days, patients with AP duration of 180-269 days [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.576, p = 0.019], 270-359 days (HR = 0.594, p = 0.023), and ≥360 days (HR = 0.309, p < 0.001) had significantly lower risk of HZ. CONCLUSION: Auto-HSCT patients are at increased risk for HZ, even when prescribed AP. A safe and effective vaccine against HZ for auto-HSCT patients could be a useful adjunctive prevention strategy.