Socioeconomics of influenza and influenza vaccination in Europe

Although the effectiveness of influenza vaccination is established, vaccination policies and their implementation differ considerably across Europe. Historically, the selective policies for influenza vaccination were based on the proven efficacy of influenza vaccine in healthy volunteers, and recognition that influenza complications and death occur mostly in elderly people with chronic medical conditions. Healthcare providers are faced with increasingly aging populations and costly new technologies and are more likely to extend immunisation policies if new initiatives are cost effective compared with accepted measures. Few studies of vaccine effectiveness focus on elderly cohorts with and without high risk conditions. Accordingly, healthcare providers in Denmark, Sweden. The Netherlands and the UK may require further data on vaccine effectiveness in elderly people without high risk conditions before reconsidering their policies. Scandinavian countries may also require data demonstrating benefits in people with diabetes. Review of recent US studies indicates that the available data on vaccine effectiveness in preventing influenza-related hospitalisation and death are applicable in Europe, but vaccine costs and cost effectiveness, and the overall economic burden of inpatient and outpatient care, need to be assessed country by country.