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Topic Links |
Adult and
Adolescent Immunization
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Anthrax
Vaccine
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Development
of Immunization Registries
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Immunization Grant Program (Section 317)
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Immunization Safety
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Influenza
Immunization
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Pandemic
Influenza Planning
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Pediatric
Vaccine Stockpiles
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Racial and
Ethnic Adult Disparities in Immunization Initiative
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Tracking
Vaccine-preventable Diseases
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Vaccines
For Children Program
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Vaccine-preventable Diseases
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Immunizations are one of the great public health success stories of the
20th century, having made once-common diseases such as diphtheria, measles,
mumps, and pertussis diseases of the past. Vaccines are now available to
protect children and adults against 15 life-threatening or debilitating
diseases. This has reduced cases of all vaccine-preventable diseases by more
than 97% from peak levels before vaccines were available, saving lives and
saving treatment and hospitalization costs.
Polio has been eradicated from this hemisphere, even though many
Americans can still remember iron lungs, leg braces, and worried parents
forbidding their children to swim in lakes and rivers during the summer. CDC
and its partners believe that polio will soon be eradicated from the rest of
the world as well, leading to savings of at least $350 million in the United
States alone, since polio vaccines will no longer be necessary.
Despite these success stories, several challenges remain. Even though
coverage has improved, pockets of under-immunized children remain, leaving
the potential for outbreaks of disease. Many adolescents and adults are
under-immunized as well, missing opportunities to protect themselves against
vaccine-preventable diseases such as hepatitis B, influenza, and
pneumococcal disease. The safety of vaccines requires continued monitoring
by systems like the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, so that adverse
effects like those associated with the recent recall of the rotavirus
vaccinecan be detected quickly. CDC works closely with public health
agencies and private partners to improve and sustain immunization coverage
and to monitor the safety of vaccines so that this public health success
story can be maintained and expanded in the century to come.
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