Between 2011 and 2017, Serogroup B (MenB) was responsible for all 10 collegiate outbreaks. Students, faculty, and staff are burdened by outbreak-related expenditures, in part because they need coordination with local and state health authorities to create epidemic response strategies at points of distribution (PODs), as well as quick mass vaccination of a large at-risk student population. The MenB epidemic at Providence College in 2015 was utilised as a case study to build an Excel-based Meningococcal Outbreak Cost Calculator, which estimates the costs and resources involved with a meningococcal disease outbreak response by using target groups for mass vaccination. Over an 18-month period following the epidemic announcement, resources include labour, medical supplies, and other non labor costs. The calculator estimated aggregate direct costs of $1,350,963 for 4,418 individuals over 18 months post-outbreak based on the actual Providence College population partially or fully vaccinated with MenB-FHbp.
The tool projected total expenses of $1,798,399 for planned complete immunisation of the enrolled undergraduate population. The majority of the costs in both situations were for medical supplies and contract services. This calculator can assist in the planning of a mass vaccination campaign for MenB outbreak control, and it emphasises the importance of vaccinating against a variety of disease-causing strains before an epidemic begins.
Reference:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645515.2018.1556074
