Hiqa: Infant RSV Immunisation Significantly Reduces Hospitalisations, Costs up to €58.5 Million

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has stated that expanding vaccination against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to infants would lead to significant reductions in hospitalisations. Hiqa published a health technology assessment for RSV immunisation in Ireland for infants and older adults on Tuesday.

RSV is a common seasonal viral infection affecting the lungs and upper airways, with infants and older people at increased risk of severe illness. Annually, over 7,000 people in Ireland are diagnosed with RSV, with many young children, especially infants under one year, requiring hospital admission. Pilot RSV immunisation programs over the past two winters have already dramatically reduced infant hospitalisations.

Hiqa assessed immunising infants born during or experiencing their first RSV season, considering maternal vaccines or monoclonal antibodies for babies. All products were found safe and effective, significantly reducing medically attended cases and hospitalisations. Estimated costs to the HSE over five years range from €15.6 million for maternal vaccines for babies born during RSV season to €58.5 million for monoclonal antibodies for all babies during their first RSV season, though cost uncertainty exists.

For older adults, RSV vaccination was also safe and effective, but effectiveness wanes. Offering the vaccine to adults aged 80 and older, the highest-risk group, would cost an estimated €70.6 million over five years. Hiqa found current vaccine list prices (€165 ex-VAT) make strategies for older people not cost-effective. A strategy for those aged 80 and older in year one, and only 80-year-olds in subsequent years, would be cost-effective at €20 or less per vaccine (ex-VAT), an 88% reduction from current prices.