Overview

Vaccination is one of the most effective measures to reduce antimicrobial resistance. As vaccines are highly specific to their targeted pathogens, they are less likely to induce resistance compared to antibiotics. Their impact on resistance or antibiotic prescriptions has already been demonstrated for vaccines against pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumonia and influenza, but greater investment and development is needed for vaccines which target pathogens such as Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, common health care-associated infections and respiratory and diarrhoeal viruses. To value vaccines correctly, economic evaluations need to take account of multiple health system, ecological and epidemiological pathways through which vaccination affects antimicrobial resistance and use.