Immunizations Are for the Greatest Good

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In January 2010 the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged to spend $10 billion over the next decade (the “Decade of Vaccines”) to help discover and develop vaccines and deliver them to people in the world’s poorest countries. The goal of this commitment is not only to reduce illness and death in low-income countries, but also to mobilize support from other organizations and the governments of middle- and high-income countries to join the fight for immunization. If developing countries are able to increase access to life-saving vaccines and rates of vaccination, the health benefits could be substantial ("Estimated Economic Benefits During The ‘Decade Of Vaccines’ Include Treatment Savings, Gains In Labor Productivity," n.d.). In addition, when vaccination is used to prevent illness and death, the push to expand vaccine access may also deliver major economic benefits to families and governments.

According to the Lives Saved Tool developed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the World Health Organization, and the Futures Institute, an estimated 6.4 million children’s deaths could be averted between 2011 and 2020 by scaling up the delivery of five life-saving vaccines and rapidly introducing an effective malaria vaccine in seventy-two of the world’s poorest countries ("Estimated Economic Benefits During The ‘Decade Of Vaccines’ Include Treatment Savings, Gains In Labor Productivity," n.d.).

In 2011, 49 US states did not meet the 92-94% herd immunity threshold for pertussis (whooping cough), resulting in a 2012 outbreak that sickened 42,000 people and was the biggest outbreak since 1955. (Mark Fishetti 2013). In 2005, an 18-month-old Amish girl contracted polio and spread the disease to four other unvaccinated children, but, because the community met the herd immunity threshold for the disease, there was no polio outbreak. (Steven F. Hirsch, 2007)

Vaccines protect the "herd." Herd immunity (or community immunity) is the percent of people who need to be vaccinated to provide immunity for the population (US Department of Health and Human Services). Children and adults who cannot be vaccinated due to age, poor health (who are immune-compromised or undergoing chemotherapy, for example), or other reasons rely on herd immunity to prevent contraction of vaccine-preventable diseases. (Steven L. Weinreb 2011). A Jan. 2008 outbreak of measles in San Diego, CA resulted in 48 children who had to be quarantined because they were too young to be vaccinated and could not rely on herd immunity to keep them safe (David Surgerman 2008).

Fine, P.; Eames, K.; Heymann, D. L. (1 April 2011). ""Herd immunity": A rough guide". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 52 (7): 911–6. doi:10.1093/cid/cir007. PMID 21427399.

Steven L. Weinreb, "For the Herd’s Sake, Vaccinate," www.nytimes.com, Dec. 27, 2011

Taylor LE, Swerdfeger AL, Eslick GD. Vaccines are not associated with autism: An evidence-based meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies. Vaccine. 2014 June;32(29):3623–3629.

Schechter R, Grether JK. Continuing increases in autism reported to California’s developmental services system: Mercury in retrograde. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65:19-24.

Institute of Medicine. Immunization Safety Review. Vaccines and Autism Board of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 2004).

Hviid A, Stellfeld M, Wohlfahrt J, Melbye M. Association between thimerosal-containing vaccine and autism[PDF – 145 KB]. JAMA. 2003;290:1763–6.

Madsen KM, Hviid A, Vestergaard M, Schendel D, Wohlfahrt J, et al. A population-based study of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination and autism. N Engl J Med. 2002;347 (19):1477–1482.

Ball L, Ball R, Pratt RD.An assessment of thimerosal in childhood vaccines. Pediatrics. 2001;107:1147–1154

US Department of Health and Human Services, "Community Immunity ('Herd Immunity')," www.vaccines.gov (accessed June 5, 2014)

David E. Sugerman, et al., "Measles Outbreak in a Highly Vaccinated Population, San Diego, 2008: Role of the Intentionally Undervaccinated," Pediatrics, Apr. 1, 2010

Mark Fishetti, "Too Many Children Go Unvaccinated," www.scientificamerican.com, May 14, 2013

Steven F. Hirsch, "Protecting the 'Herd': Why Vaccinations Still Matter," www.washingtonparent.com, Aug. 2007

During The ‘Decade Of Vaccines,’ The Lives Of 6.4 Million Children Valued At $231 Billion Could Be Saved. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/30/6/1010.full?ijkey=aCQyO70nhG4zw&keytype=ref&siteid=healthaff

Estimated Economic Benefits During The ‘Decade Of Vaccines’ Include Treatment Savings, Gains In Labor Productivity. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/30/6/1021.full?ijkey=2aMaZBnnJqWz6&keytype=ref&siteid=healthaff

Estimated Economic Benefits During The ‘Decade Of Vaccines’ Include Treatment Savings, Gains In Labor Productivity. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/30/6/1021/T1.expansion.html

Parents | Making the Vaccine Decision | CDC. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/vaccine-decision/index.html