Helps save older people's lives and hospital stays
By Regenstrief Institute
The study showed that RSV vaccination provided about 80%
protection against severe illness, hospitalization, ICU admission, and death
due to respiratory infections. It offered similar protection against less
severe cases in adults aged 60 and older who visited the emergency room but
didn’t require hospitalization. Of this population, those ages 75 and older,
were at the highest risk of severe disease and were the most likely to be
hospitalized.
Collaborative Research Insights
The study was a collaboration between the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and healthcare systems and research
centers across the U.S. These centers, which are part of the CDC’s VISION
Network, have integrated medical, laboratory, and vaccination records, allowing
for comprehensive data analysis.
“Unlike this data study, clinical trials for the RSV vaccine
were underpowered to access the effectiveness of the vaccines against severe
disease requiring hospitalization. Addressing this gap in evidence, we were
able to use the power of big data to determine RSV vaccine effectiveness,
information needed to inform vaccine policy,” said study co-author Shaun
Grannis, M.D., M.S. “As a data scientist and a family practice physician, I
encourage older adults to follow CDC guidance and get vaccinated for RSV as we
enter this year’s and every year’s respiratory disease season.” Dr. Grannis is
vice president for data and analytics at Regenstrief Institute and a professor
of family medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Seasonal Impact and Vaccine Benefits
In the U.S., respiratory disease season typically commences in late September or early October and continues through March or early April.
RSV affects the nose, throat and lungs, causing substantial
illness and death among older adults during these seasonal epidemics. In years
prior to the availability of an RSV vaccine, an estimated 60,000 to 160,000
RSV-associated hospitalizations and 6,000 to 10,000 RSV-associated deaths
occurred annually among U.S. adults aged 65 years and older, according to the
CDC.
Real-World Efficacy and Economic Impact
“No vaccine is 100 percent effective. An 80 percent vaccine effectiveness rate is quite impressive and higher than we see, for example, with the influenza vaccine,” said study co-author Brian Dixon, PhD, MPA.
“The
bottom line is that using real world data from electronic medical records
routinely captured in care for people from diverse walks of life we found that
having the vaccine was highly protective against hospitalization, severe
illness and death.” Dr. Dixon is interim director and a research scientist with
the Clem McDonald Center for Biomedical Informatics at Regenstrief Institute
and a professor at the Indiana University Indianapolis Fairbanks School of
Public Health.
Dr. Dixon added “Studies like this one are critical to
understanding the effects of prevention techniques like vaccination. The annual
cost of RSV hospitalization for adults in the U.S. is estimated to be between
$1.2 and $5 billion. Preventing up to 80 percent of hospitalizations could
result in major savings for consumers and the health system.”
Reference: “Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine
effectiveness against RSV-associated hospitalisations and emergency department
encounters among adults aged 60 years and older in the USA, October, 2023, to
March, 2024: a test-negative design analysis” by Amanda B Payne, Janet A Watts,
Patrick K Mitchell, Kristin Dascomb, Stephanie A Irving, Nicola P Klein, Shaun
J Grannis, Toan C Ong, Sarah W Ball, Malini B DeSilva, Karthik Natarajan,
Tamara Sheffield, Daniel Bride, Julie Arndorfer, Allison L Naleway, Padma
Koppolu, Bruce Fireman, Ousseny Zerbo, Julius Timbol, Kristin Goddard, Brian E
Dixon, William F Fadel, Colin Rogerson, Katie S Allen, Suchitra Rao, David
Mayer, Michelle Barron, Sarah E Reese, Elizabeth A K Rowley, Morgan Najdowski,
Allison Avrich Ciesla, Josephine Mak, Emily L Reeves, Omobosola O Akinsete,
Charlene E McEvoy, Inih J Essien, Mark W Tenforde, Katherine E Fleming-Dutra
and Ruth Link-Gelles, 19 October 2024, The Lancet.
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01738-0
VISION sites participating in the study were Permanente
Northwest (Oregon and Washington), University of Colorado (Colorado),
Intermountain Healthcare (Utah), Regenstrief Institute (Indiana),
HealthPartners (Minnesota and Wisconsin), and Kaiser Permanente Northern
California (California), representing 230 hospitals and 245 emergency
departments. Regenstrief contributes data and scientific expertise to the
VISION Network.
Regenstrief Institute authors of this VISION Network study,
in addition to Drs. Grannis and Dixon, are Research Scientist Colin Rogerson,
M.D., Affiliate Scientist William Fadel, PhD, and Research Staff Scientist
Katie Allen. Dr. Rogerson is also a faculty member of the IU School of
Medicine. Dr. Fadel is also a faculty member of IU Fairbanks School of Public
Health.
About Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S.
In addition to his role as the vice president of data and
analytics at Regenstrief Institute, Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., is the
Regenstrief Chair in Medical Informatics and a professor of family medicine at
the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Brian E. Dixon, PhD, MPA
In addition to his role as the director of public health
informatics at the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University Indianapolis
Fairbanks School of Public Health, Brian E. Dixon, PhD, MPA, is the interim
director and a research scientist with the Clem McDonald Center for Biomedical
Informatics at the Regenstrief Institute and a professor of health management
and policy at the Fairbanks School. He is also an affiliate scientist at the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development
Center for Health Information and Communication, Richard L. Roudebush VA
Medical Center.