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11 Facts About Vaccines

Welcome to DoSomething.org, a global movement of millions of young people making positive change, online and off! The 11 facts you want are below, and the sources for the facts are at the very bottom of the page. After you learn something, Do Something! Find out how to take action here.

  1. In the past 60 years, vaccines helped eradicate one disease (smallpox) and are close to eradicating another (polio).^["Vaccines bring 7 diseases under control." Vaccines bring 7 diseases under control. http://www.unicef.org/pon96/hevaccin.htm (accessed August 1, 2014).]
  2. Vaccines prevent more than 2.5 million deaths each year.^["No vaccine for the scaremongers." WHO. http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/6/08-030608/en/ (accessed August 1, 2014).]
  3. Scientific studies and reviews continue to show no relationship between vaccines and autism.^[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Infant Immunizations FAQs." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/parent-questions.html (accessed July 31, 2014).]
  4. New and underutilized vaccines could avert nearly 4 million deaths by 2015.^["Why Childhood Vaccines? ONE's Vaccine Policy Pitch." ONE. http://www.one.org/us/policy/why-childhood-vaccines-ones-vaccine-policy-pitch/ (accessed August 1, 2014).]
  5. Vaccines cause “herd immunity,” which means if the majority of people in a community have been vaccinated against a disease, an unvaccinated person is less likely to get sick because others are less likely to get sick and spread the disease.^["Community Immunity ("Herd Immunity")." Home. http://www.vaccines.gov/basics/protection/ (accessed August 1, 2014).]
  6. Vaccines helped reduce measles deaths globally by 78% between 2000 and 2008. In sub-Saharan Africa, deaths dropped by 92% in the same period.^["Measles & Rubella Initiative." United Nations Foundation. http://www.unfoundation.org/what-we-do/campaigns-and-initiatives/measles-initiative/ (accessed August 1, 2014).]
  7. There are existing vaccines that could stop rotavirus and pneumonia — two conditions that kill nearly 3 million children under the age of five every year.^["IMMUNIZATION FACTS AND FIGURES April 2013." unicef. http://www.unicef.org/immunization/files/UNICEF_Key_facts_and_figures_on_Immunization_April_2013(1).pdf (accessed August 1, 2014).]
  8. The CDC has reported a 99% reduction in the incidence of bacterial meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae since the introduction of the vaccination against the disease in 1988.^[CDC. "Haemophilus b conjugate vaccines for prevention of Haemophilus influenzae type b disease among infants and children two months of age and older: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)." MMWR 1991;40(No. RR-1):1–7.]
  9. Researchers estimate that a viable malaria vaccine could be ready for children in the developing world as early as 2015.^["No vaccine for the scaremongers." WHO. http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/6/08-030608/en/ (accessed August 1, 2014).]
  10. Not all vaccines are given as shots. Some vaccines are given orally.^["Typhoid Vaccines." CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/typhoid.pdf (accessed August 1, 2014).]
  11. Most diseases prevented by vaccines are no longer common in the United States. If vaccines weren’t used, just a few cases could quickly turn into tens or hundreds of thousands.^[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Infant Immunizations FAQs." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/parent-questions.html (accessed July 31, 2014).]
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