The development of vaccines may be the second most important public health intervention in history (safe drinking water being the first).  Vaccines have saved millions of lives over the years and prevented hundreds of millions of cases of disease.

Before vaccines:
• Smallpox was one of the most devastating diseases the world had ever known, killing millions of people worldwide.  The last person to get a natural case of smallpox was a 23-year-old cook in Somalia, in 1977.

• At one time, diphtheria killed more than 10,000 people a year and was one of the most common causes of death in school-aged children in the U. S. Today, most doctors will never see a single case of diphtheria, much less have a patient die from it.

• Polio paralyzed children by the thousands in the mid 20th century. There has not been a case of wild virus polio in the U. S. since 1979.

• Rubella (German measles) used to cause birth defects and mental retardation in thousands of newborns.

• Measles once infected millions of children, killing some. In 1962, the year before the measles vaccine was introduced, almost 500,000 cases of measles were reported in the U.S. However, after the measles vaccine became available, the number of measles cases dropped by 99 percent.

• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) used to cause meningitis in thousands of children, leaving many with permanent brain damage.

• Pertussis (whooping cough) used to kill thousands of infants.

Vaccines are one of the most effective weapons we have against disease – on average they work in 85% to 99% of cases.  That's why children attending school in all 50 states of the U.S. are required to get certain immunizations (the specific requirements vary from state to state as well as the ability to seek exemptions from them).  They've been widely studied and have been proven to be safe and effective for most people.  

When people opt out of getting vaccinated, it puts us all at risk.  With the exception of smallpox, which vaccines eliminated from humans, these diseases are still out there.   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) experts say measles, mumps, rubella, and other vaccine-preventable diseases are still only at bay, awaiting a window of opportunity to reclaim prominence as common diseases.  In 1996, diphtheria appeared to be circulating in Alaska, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and Washington State.  Cases of pertussis (whooping cough) more than tripled in the United States between 2001 and 2004, and this year (2008) there were outbreaks of measles in Arizona, New York, Michigan and Wisconsin.  History has clearly shown that when the rate of vaccination decreases, the incidence of the disease increases.

Some people question the necessity and safety of vaccines. 
• Since many diseases have virtually disappeared in the U.S., it's easy to become complacent.  The truth is, because millions of people travel to and from other countries where many vaccine-preventable diseases remain relatively common, these diseases could return to the U.S.

• Some believe vaccines may cause diseases such as autism, hyperactivity, developmental delay, attention deficit disorder, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) among others.  The CDC has done extensive studies on these associations and in the past has reported there was no link.  However, a recent report  delivered to the House Appropriations Committee from CDC director Dr Julie Gerberding reveals that the data and methodology that the CDC used in its 2003 study, which evaluated the link between mercury in vaccines and autism and other disorders, was flawed.  This report was in response to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) report that evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the CDC's vaccine database.  The NIEHS panel had "identified several areas of weaknesses that when taken together reduce the usefulness of the project for conducting an ecologic study design to address the potential association between exposure to thimerosal and the risk of autism.".   What does all this mean?  While the CDC needs to go back and look at their data, the conclusion of vaccine safety has not been invalidated.  Regardless of the fact that no unreasonable harm has been proven by research thus far, some individuals will remain passionate about their opinions and will continue to question the link between vaccines and certain diseases.  Find out more about this subject by reading Key Point 2.

Learn more about Vaccines:

Key Point 1: Vaccines work.  No matter what you think of the risks of vaccines, they have wiped out deadly diseases by stimulating the body's immune system to recognize bacteria and viruses and stop them.
 
Key Point 2:  Vaccines have protected entire populations and generations from some horrific diseases.  However, there are individual cases where vaccines don't work or do harm. 

Key Point 3: Vaccine policy, like other public policy, is a balance between personal rights and individual and societal protection. 


[1] The Huffington Post, CDC:  Vaccine StudyUsed Flawed Methods by David Kirby, June 21, 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/cdc-vaccine-study-used-fl_b_108462.html