Medical Info: The Rest of the Story About Immunizations

Immunizations are getting a lot of press these days, and much of the publicity is negative and unfounded. Additionally, a large portion of the publicity fails to mention the most important information - that is, the remarkable success in improving our health brought about by immunizations. In fact, we are living in an age that, for the most part, takes for granted the benefits we enjoy. For instance, only 80 years ago there were almost 500,000 cases of measles in the United States, resulting in almost 8000 deaths. Now we see less than 100 cases a year. [It is worth noting that some places are seeing an increase in the number of measles cases due to parents choosing to not vaccinate. ] Only 50 years ago, polio caused over 16000 cases of paralysis and over 1500 deaths every year! Now polio is close to being eradicated from the entire world.

Measles and polio are just two of the many examples of diseases that are being successfully fought with routine immunizations. The CDC recently listed immunizations as perhaps the greatest public health achievement of the 20th century (for more, see http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/tengpha.htm). As we all try to sift through the loads of information (some accurate, some not) about vaccines, it is important that we do not forget "the big picture".

Stay tuned for more information about immunizations.