French economic evaluations of influenza and influenza vaccination

The cost-of-illness studies of influenza performed in France for the years 1985 and 1989 have shown that the major economic consideration is the respective sizes of indirect and direct costs. Depending on the point of view (from the perspective of National Health Insurance or the societal perspective) and the method used for measuring indirect costs, it was estimated that they could be between 1:5 and 9 times higher than direct costs. A cost-benefit study of influenza vaccination for the employed adult population showed that vaccination is a cost-saving strategy, although this was also contingent upon the problems associated with measuring indirect benefits as well as the effectiveness rate of vaccination in real conditions.