Cost benefits of targeting the pneumococcal vaccination program to the elderly population in Taiwan

Because of the continuing rise in pneumococcal vaccine costs and limits on funding of such costs, vaccination priorities in Taiwan were assessed.

Data of a randomly selected sample of 200,448 people were analyzed to identify the highest risk groups. Patients were subgrouped on the basis of age and gender, and estimates were made of cumulative admissions, pneumonia recurrence rate, and associated costs of hospital care and medical treatment over the period 1997-2002 for each subgroup.

The per capita costs of medical treatment for pneumonia in those aged 65 years or above were found to be highest in those with chronic lung disease (19,906,086 US dollars), heart disease (19,692,769 US dollars), and diabetes mellitus (8,613,973 US dollars).

Elderly adults over age 65 years with these chronic diseases should be considered high-priority candidates for pneumococcal vaccination.