07 October 2011 Influenza vaccination is recognized as the most
effective method of influenza prevention, but influenza vaccines
are currently not available to most of the world’s populations.
National level evidence-based decision making about policies for
the use of influenza vaccines among different age groups is,
ideally, based on estimates of the potential impact of proposed
influenza vaccine programs. Dawood et al. (2011) use Thailand as
a case-study to present a model that uses surveillance data,
published vaccine effectiveness estimates, and vaccination
coverage assumptions to estimate the impact of influenza
vaccination on pediatric influenza pneumonia hospitalizations.
Since 2007, the Thailand Ministry of Public Health has
recommended the use of, and subsidized, influenza vaccination
for adults aged 65 years and older. Surveillance data presented
from 20 hospitals in two Thai provinces was extrapolated to
estimate the average number of clinical pneumonia
hospitalizations across the country. National