11 Facts About Vaccines

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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).]