Why carry out this study?

In Australia, publicly funded vaccination programs are periodically reevaluated to ensure scarce resources are used in a cost-effective manner.

The 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (7vPCV) and the 13-valent (13vPCV) have been on the infant National Immunisation Program since 2005 and have provided benefit through direct and indirect protection, yet the public health and economic impact have not been retrospectively quantified.

What was learned from the study?

PCVs have demonstrated substantial return on investment and have proven their importance for a healthy population, given that for every two infants vaccinated one case of pneumococcal disease has been prevented in Australia.

Evidence supports the continuation of 13vPCV considering this program has prevented substantial disease burden and saved disease-related costs in all ages.