According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Herpes Zoster vaccine doesn’t appear cost effective for people aged 50 years and above.
Phuc Le and Michael B. Rothberg, Researchers at the Cleveland clinic had estimated the cost – effectiveness of the Herpes Zoster vaccine versus no vaccine in people aged 50 years. It was found out that one postherapetic neuralgia case and 25 Herpes Zoster cases could be avoided for every 1000 persons that received the vaccine at the age of 50 years.
While comparing HZ vaccine versus no vaccine, the ICER (incremental cost – effectiveness ratio) was found out to be $323, 456 per QALY (quality adjusted life cycle). The vaccine, which costs $80 and the rate at which its effectiveness diminishes were the only variables that brought the ICER under $100,000 per quality adjusted life cycle in the deterministic sensitivity analysis.
According to the findings, the mean ICER was $500,754 per QALY in a probabilistic sensitivity analysis. The researchers also determined that at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000 per QALY, the probability of the HZ vaccine proving to be cost effective was mere 3 percent.
“Herpes zoster vaccine for persons aged 50 years does not seem to represent good value according to generally accepted standards. Our findings support the decision of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices not to recommend the vaccine for adults in this age group,” the authors write.