What is the Knowledge Hub?
Explore the VoICE Knowledge Hub—a searchable database featuring the latest peer-reviewed research on immunization benefits, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Browse the Knowledge Hub using a variety of different filters to find vaccine evidence based on country, region, topic, or disease. Click on a tag to find more evidence on a specific area, such as the return on investment of vaccines or impacts of infectious disease outbreaks.
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Child vaccination coverage in Guinea decreased significantly during and after the Ebola epidemic, affecting all vaccines
During and after the Ebola epidemic in a hard-hit region of Guinea, the increasing trend of child vaccination coverage was reversed resulting in a significant decrease in coverage for most vaccines. Despite an uptick immediately following the end of the outbreak, the downward trend continued or plateaued for all vaccines.
Delamou A, El Ayadi AM, Sidibe S et al.. 2017. Effect of Ebola virus disease on maternal and child health services in Guinea: a retrospective observational cohort study. Lancet Global Health. 5(4).
Disease outbreaks can be associated with school closures, food insecurity, and health system disruptions
In a 2018 study, researchers describe the devastating and far-reaching impacts of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, including more than half a million people experiencing food insecurity, school closures lasting more than 7 months, tens of thousands of children orphaned, and a huge proportion of the health workforce killed by the disease, leading to infant, maternal, and child deaths due to a lack of skilled health workers and a 97% reduction in surgical capacity.
Huber C, Finelli L, Stevens W. 2018. The economic and social burden of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. JID. 22(5).
The impact of disease outbreaks on health systems and governments can cost billions of dollars
In a comprehensive accounting of the costs of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Huber et al. estimate the economic and social costs to have been US$53 billion, of which US$18.8 billion was attributed to non-Ebola deaths.
Huber C, Finelli L, Stevens W. 2018. The economic and social burden of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. JID. 22(5).
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.
Bambery Z, Cassell CH, Bennell RE et al.. 2018. Impact of hypothetical infectious disease outbreak in US exports and export-based jobs. Health Security. 16.
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).
Bambery Z, Cassell CH, Bennell RE et al.. 2018. Impact of hypothetical infectious disease outbreak in US exports and export-based jobs. Health Security. 16.
Vaccinating healthcare workers can prevent disease exposures during pertussis outbreaks
In a study of a 2003 outbreak of pertussis in the U.S., including 17 cases among healthcare workers, researchers estimated that vaccinating healthcare workers would prevent nearly 50% of disease exposures by healthcare workers per year.
Calugar A, Ortega-Sanchez I, Tiwari T et al.. 2006. Nosocomial pertussis: Costs of an outbreak and benefits of vaccinating health care workers. CID. 42.
Vaccinating healthcare workers against pertussis would provide hospitals with a significant return on investment
In a study of a 2003 outbreak of pertussis in the U.S., including 17 cases among healthcare workers, researchers estimated that vaccinating healthcare workers would result in a 2.4-fold return on investment for hospitals.
Calugar A, Ortega-Sanchez I, Tiwari T et al.. 2006. Nosocomial pertussis: Costs of an outbreak and benefits of vaccinating health care workers. CID. 42.
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).
Immunization can prevent costly meningitis outbreaks
Two meningococcal meningitis outbreaks in Brazil resulted in US$128,000 (9 cases, 2007) and US$34,000 (3 cases, 2011) in direct costs to the health system to investigate cases and manage the outbreak (including emergency vaccination). The investigation and response activities related to the 2011 outbreak alone cost $11,475 per case, and an additional $6,600 overall for supplemental disease surveillance activities.
Constenla D., Carvalho A., Guzman NA.. 2015. Economic impact of meningococcal outbreaks in Brazil and Colombia. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2(4).
Outbreaks of one illness can lead to reduced access to immunization services, increasing risk of additional outbreaks
A 2015 study projected that the crippling of immunization programs resulting from the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone could double the number of people at risk of a measles outbreak, and could cause up to 16,000 measles deaths, surpassing the number of deaths caused by Ebola itself.
Takahashi S, Metcalf JE, Ferrari MJ et al.. 2015. Reduced vaccination and the risk of measles and other childhood infections post-Ebola. Science. 347(6227).