The Knowledge Hub

Immunization during pregnancy reduces the risk of stillbirths and preterm delivery caused by influenza

During the 2009 UK influenza A H1N1 pandemic, pregnant women who contracted influenza were five times more likely to have perinatal mortality (stillbirths) and three times more likely to have a preterm delivery, than were pregnant women who did not contract the virus.

Lim BH, Mahmood TA. 2011. Influenza A H1N1 2009 (Swine Flu) and Pregnancy. The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in India. 61(4).

Immunization can prevent long-term effects of meningococcal disease, such as hearing loss and psychological problems

A systematic literature review of studies of the long-term effects of invasive meningococcal disease in high-income countries found that children who survived the disease had a greater incidence of hearing loss and psychological problems, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than control groups or the general population. In addition, they had increased odds of death – one study showed more than a 25% greater mortality rate in this population than did the general public up to 30 years after having the disease.

Strifler L, Morris SK, Dang V et al.. 2016. The health burden of invasive meningococcal disease: a systematic review. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. 5(4).

HPV vaccination rates in England are lower in areas with more migrant families and non-whites

Coverage rates of HPV vaccination in England, which is provided to 12-13 year old girls through a government-funded, school-based program, were significantly lower in areas with higher proportions of migrant families and non-whites than in areas that are predominantly native-born and white.

Jean S, Elshafei M, Buttenheim A. 2018. Social determinants of community-level human papillomavirus vaccination coverage in a school-based vaccination programme. Sexually Transmitted Infections. 94(4).

The HPV vaccine can protect both young women and men from oropharyngeal cancers

HPV vaccine given to young women may also protect similarly-aged men against oropharyngeal cancers, which have been rising in incidence in the U.S. and Western Europe. In a small study in the UK, rates of oral HPV infections caused by HPV-16 were similar for males 12-24 years of age and vaccinated females (0% vs. 0.5%). This was considerably lower than the rates for unvaccinated females (5.6%) and men ≥25 years old (7.1%).

HPV-16 is the main HPV type linked to oropharyngeal cancers.

Mehanna H, Bryant TS, Babrah J et al.. 2018. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine effectiveness and potential herd immunity for reducing oncogenic oropharyngeal HPV-16 prevalence in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional study. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 69(8).

Flu vaccination in children may reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions during influenza season

Among 33,000 preschool children in the UK (who received at least one prescription of amoxicillin) there were ~15% fewer amoxicillin prescriptions given during the influenza season to children who had received the live attenuated influenza vaccine than among children who were not vaccinated. This suggests that flu vaccination may lead to a reduction in excess, inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics for influenza in children.

Hardelid P, Ghebremichael-Weldeselassie Y, Whitaker H et al.. 2018. Effectiveness of live attenuated influenza vaccine in preventing amoxicillin prescribing in preschool children: A self-controlled case series study. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 73(3).

Vaccinating all healthcare workers against Ebola could have dramatically reduced cases

Using data on the spread of Ebola from person to person during historical Ebola outbreaks to compare vaccination strategies, researchers found that prophylatically vaccinating all healthcare workers would have decreased the number of disease cases in the 2014 epidemics in Guinea and Nigeria by 60-80%.

Coltart CE, Johnson AM, Whitty CJ. 2015. Role of healthcare workers in early epidemic spread of Ebola: policy implications of prophylactic compared to reactive vaccination policy in outbreak prevention and control. BMC Medicine. 13(271).

Influenza outbreaks can have massive economic impacts

Researchers modeled the costs, using the UK’s 2004 economy, of potential pandemic flu in the UK. Costs of illness alone ranged between 0.5% and 1.0% of gross domestic product (£8.4bn to £16.8bn) for low fatality scenarios, 3.3% and 4.3% (£55.5bn to £72.3bn) for high fatality scenarios, and larger still for an extreme pandemic. Vaccination with a pre-pandemic vaccine could save 0.13% to 2.3% of gross domestic product (£2.2bn to £38.6bn); a single dose of a matched vaccine could save 0.3% to 4.3% (£5.0bn to £72.3bn), and two doses of a matched vaccine could limit the overall economic impact to about 1% of gross domestic product for all disease scenarios.

Smith, R.D., Keogh-Brown, M.R., Barnett, T., et al. 2009. The economy-wide impact of pandemic influenza on the UK: a computable general equilibrium modeling experiment. BMJ. 339.