Global InformationVaccination information
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| ICD-9-CM | 99.3-99.5 |
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Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating the body's adaptive immunity, they help prevent sickness from an infectious disease. When a sufficiently large percentage of a population has been vaccinated, herd immunity results. Herd immunity protects those who may be immunocompromised and cannot get a vaccine because even a weakened version would harm them.[1] The effectiveness of vaccination has been widely studied and verified.[2][3][4] Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases;[5][6][7][8] widespread immunity due to vaccination is largely responsible for the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the elimination of diseases such as polio and tetanus from much of the world. However, some diseases, such as measles outbreaks in America, have seen rising cases due to relatively low vaccination rates in the 2010s – attributed, in part, to vaccine hesitancy.[9] According to the World Health Organization, vaccination prevents 3.5–5 million deaths per year.[10]
The first disease people tried to prevent by inoculation was most likely smallpox, with the first recorded use of variolation occurring in the 16th century in China.[11] It was also the first disease for which a vaccine was produced.[12][13] Although at least six people had used the same principles years earlier, the smallpox vaccine was invented in 1796 by English physician Edward Jenner. He was the first to publish evidence that it was effective and to provide advice on its production.[14] Louis Pasteur furthered the concept through his work in microbiology. The immunization was called vaccination because it was derived from a virus affecting cows (Latin: vacca 'cow').[12][14] Smallpox was a contagious and deadly disease, causing the deaths of 20–60% of infected adults and over 80% of infected children.[15] When smallpox was finally eradicated in 1979, it had already killed an estimated 300–500 million people in the 20th century.[16][17][18]
Vaccination and immunization have a similar meaning in everyday language. This is distinct from inoculation, which uses unweakened live pathogens. Vaccination efforts have been met with some reluctance on scientific, ethical, political, medical safety, and religious grounds, although no major religions oppose vaccination, and some consider it an obligation due to the potential to save lives.[19] In the United States, people may receive compensation for alleged injuries under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Early success brought widespread acceptance, and mass vaccination campaigns have greatly reduced the incidence of many diseases in numerous geographic regions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists vaccination as one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century in the U.S.[20]
- ^ "Herd immunity (Herd protection) | Vaccine Knowledge". vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ Fiore AE, Bridges CB, Cox J (2009). "Seasonal Influenza Vaccines". Vaccines for Pandemic Influenza. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. Vol. 333. pp. 43–82. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-92165-3_3. ISBN 978-3-540-92164-6. PMID 19768400. S2CID 33549265.
- ^ Chang Y, Brewer NT, Rinas AC, Schmitt K, Smith JS (July 2009). "Evaluating the impact of human papillomavirus vaccines". Vaccine. 27 (32): 4355–62. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.03.008. PMID 19515467.
- ^ Liesegang TJ (August 2009). "Varicella zoster virus vaccines: effective, but concerns linger". Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology. 44 (4): 379–84. doi:10.3129/i09-126. PMID 19606157.
- ^ A CDC framework for preventing infectious diseases (PDF). United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. October 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2012.
Vaccines are our most effective and cost-saving tools for disease prevention, preventing untold suffering and saving tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars in healthcare costs each year
- ^ Gellin B (1 June 2000). "Vaccines and Infectious Diseases: Putting Risk into Perspective". American Medical Association Briefing on Microbial Threats. National Press Club Washington, DC. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010.
Vaccines are the most effective public health tool ever created.
- ^ "Vaccine-preventable diseases". Public Health Agency of Canada. 7 October 2002. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012.
Vaccines still provide the most effective, longest-lasting method of preventing infectious diseases in all age groups
- ^ "NIAID Biodefense Research Agenda for Category B and C Priority Pathogens" (PDF). United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
Vaccines are the most effective method of protecting the public against infectious diseases.
- ^ Phadke VK, Bednarczyk RA, Salmon DA, Omer SB (March 2016). "Association Between Vaccine Refusal and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the United States: A Review of Measles and Pertussis". JAMA. 315 (11): 1149–58. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.1353. PMC 5007135. PMID 26978210.
- ^ "Vaccines and immunization". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
- ^ Williams 2010, p. 60.
- ^ a b Lombard M, Pastoret PP, Moulin AM (April 2007). "A brief history of vaccines and vaccination". Revue Scientifique et Technique. 26 (1): 29–48. doi:10.20506/rst.26.1.1724. PMID 17633292. S2CID 6688481.
- ^ Behbehani AM (December 1983). "The smallpox story: life and death of an old disease". Microbiological Reviews. 47 (4): 455–509. doi:10.1128/MMBR.47.4.455-509.1983. PMC 281588. PMID 6319980.
- ^ a b Plett PC (2006). "[Peter Plett and other discoverers of cowpox vaccination before Edward Jenner]". Sudhoffs Archiv (in German). 90 (2): 219–32. PMID 17338405. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
- ^ Riedel S (January 2005). "Edward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination". Proceedings. 18 (1): 21–5. doi:10.1080/08998280.2005.11928028. PMC 1200696. PMID 16200144.
- ^ Koplow DA (2003). Smallpox: the fight to eradicate a global scourge. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24220-3.
- ^ "UC Davis Magazine, Summer 2006: Epidemics on the Horizon". Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
- ^ "How Poxviruses Such As Smallpox Evade The Immune System". ScienceDaily. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ McNeil DG (26 April 2019). "Religious Objections to the Measles Vaccine? Get the Shots, Faith Leaders Say". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- ^ CDC (April 1999). "Ten great public health achievements--United States, 1900-1999". MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 48 (12): 241–3. PMID 10220250. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2022.