Vaccines are so effective that most of the diseases that they help to prevent
are now rare. American children can be protected against dangerous
childhood diseases like measles, mumps, whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus,
pertussis, certain types of meningitis, and polio.
What would happen if we stopped vaccinating? When
fewer people were immunized, diseases quickly returned. For example:
- In 2000, the number of measles cases in Ireland increased from 148 to more
than 1,200 in just one year because vaccination was reduced to 76%. Several
children died.
- A large outbreak of rubella (German measles) occurred in Nebraska in 1999.
All 83 adults who were affected had not previously been vaccinated, and most
of them came from countries where rubella vaccine is not routine.
- After a routine vaccination was cancelled in Russia, there were 5,000 deaths
due to diphtheria in 1994. In previous years, Russia had only
a few cases of diphtheria each year and no deaths.
But do the benefits of vaccination outweigh the possible side effects?
The short answer is yes. If there were no vaccines, there would be many
more cases of disease, more serious side effects from disease, and more deaths.
The diseases that vaccines help prevent lead to pneumonia, deafness, brain
damage, heart problems, blindness, and paralysis in children who are not vaccinated.
American children are very fortunate to have vaccines for diseases that still
kill and disable children throughout the world every day. The risks of not being
vaccinated are a much greater than any risk of vaccination itself.