Several studies have shown a 13-50% reduction in the use of antibiotics by children who have received influenza vaccine compared with unvaccinated controls. This is due to a decline in febrile illnesses causes by influenza — for which antibiotics are often prescribed inappropriately — as well as a decline in secondary bacterial infections requiring antibiotic treatment, such as pneumonia and middle ear infections, that are triggered by influenza.
Global
Immunization with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine reduces drug-resistant cases of pneumococcal diseases in children and adults
Studies in several countries have shown that, following the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, there was a reduction in the number and percent of drug-resistant cases of pneumococcal diseases in children, and in some countries in adults, due to herd effects. In Japan there was a 10-fold decline in the proportion of penicillin-resistance among cases of invasive pneumococcal disease (from 56% to 5%), and in the U.S. there were reductions of 81% and 49% in the proportion of penicillin-resistant cases in children less than two years and in adults more than 65 years old, respectively.
Immunizing infants against typhoid can sharply reduce antibiotic-resistant cases
A study of the impact of typhoid conjugate vaccines in a hypothetical endemic population predicts that the number of antibiotic-resistant typhoid cases will decrease sharply if at least 80% of infants are vaccinated. However, the percent of cases that are resistant is not expected to change with vaccination, thus the disease will have to be nearly eliminated to get rid of all antibiotic resistant typhoid.
Humanitarian emergencies often lead to infectious disease outbreaks, highlighting the importance of immunization
In a study of the overlap between complex humanitarian emergencies and disease outbreaks, researchers found that more than 40% of complex emergencies that occurred between 2005-2014 were associated with an outbreak of infectious disease, with a high likelihood that the outbreak was vaccine-preventable.
An Ebola epidemic caused economic losses of $28 billion in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone
According to the World Bank, the economic impact of the 2014-15 Ebola epidemic outlasted the epidemiological impact of outbreak, resulting in estimated losses of US$2.8 billion in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone (or 16% of their combined GDP).
Vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks could cost countries billions in lost economic activity
In an analysis of a hypothetical disease outbreak scenario, based on data from the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, researchers estimated that a large-scale disease outbreak spreading to nine Asian countries could cost the US economy $8-41 billion in lost exports and put almost 1.4 million export-related US jobs at risk.
Insecurity from conflict or instability hinders access to immunization, potentially sparking outbreaks
Insecurity resulting from armed conflict, political instability, or social disruption increases the risk of communicable disease outbreaks during complex humanitarian emergencies by inhibiting populations’ access to health services, disrupting activities such as immunization and surveillance that prevent the spread of diseases, and making adequate humanitarian responses more difficult.
Mass displacement can lead to disease outbreaks, but immunization can prevent the spread of communicable diseases
Mass displacement of people during a complex humanitarian emergency can trigger a “cascade” of risk factors for communicable disease outbreaks, including a breakdown in health services (such as disease surveillance and immunization services); over-crowding (increasing disease transmission rates); inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene; and exposure of displaced population to endemic diseases for which they have no immunity.
Vaccine-preventable illnesses cause greatest burden of mortality for children affected by armed conflict
Children under 5 years of age bear the greatest burden of indirect conflict-associated mortality (indirect mortality results from disruption of health services including immunization, food insecurity, and high risk living conditions such as those found in refugee camps). The leading causes of child death in these circumstances include respiratory infections, diarrhea, measles, malaria, and malnutrition.
Immunization helps protect low-income populations from financial burden and prevents diseases like measles and pneumonia
In a financial risk model analysis of 41 Gavi-eligible countries, the burden of Catastrophic Health Costs (CHC) and Medical Impoverishment (MI) would be greatest in the lowest income populations. With expanded vaccine coverage, the share of prevented cases of measles, pneumococcal disease, and rotavirus, in relation to the total number of cases prevented, would be larger in the lowest income populations thereby providing a larger financial risk protection (FRP) to these populations.