Economic evaluation of strategies for the control and management of influenza in Europe.

We compared the cost-effectiveness of different strategies for the control and management of influenza for the elderly populations in three European countries (England and Wales, France, Germany). A "no intervention" scenario was compared with six control strategies: opportunistic vaccination (passive recruitment), comprehensive vaccination programmes (active recruitment), 4 weeks chemoprophylaxis course using neuraminidase inhibitors (NIs), 4 weeks chemoprophylaxis course using ion-channel inhibitors (ICIs), early treatment with NIs, and early treatment with ICIs. Vaccination strategies were the most cost-effective. Chemoprophylaxis strategies were highly expensive even under assumptions of optimal timing. Early treatment strategies with antivirals substantially increased demand for GP services and were more expensive than prevention through vaccination.