Vaccine

The recently licensed quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccine (QIV) may provide better protection than the traditional trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) as it includes one more influenza B strain. We developed a Monte Carlo simulation model to determine the economic value of a QIV compared to the TIV for 10 influenza seasons (1999-2009). The addition of the influenza B strain to convert the TIV into a QIV could result in substantial cost-savings to society (median of $3.1 billion) and third party payers (median of $292 million), even when the cost of QIV is significantly higher.1U54GM088491-0109/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States5P01HK000086-02/HK/PHITPO CDC HHS/United States5R01LM009132-03/LM/NLM NIH HHS/United StatesR01 LM009132/LM/NLM NIH HHS/United StatesU54 GM088491/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States2013-12-14T00:00:00Z23084849PMC369612