Child Safety Blog

Thirteen childhood diseases for which we have vaccines are causing fewer deaths than ever, according to a new study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Deaths and hospitalizations from smallpox, diphtheria and polio have gone down one hundred percent since vaccines against them were approved. Deaths and hospitalizations from nine of the diseases have gone down ninety percent, and only in only four diseases (all of which have vaccines that were approved only recently and thus have had less time to take effect in the population) did they go down less than ninety percent. Those four diseases were hepatitis A and B, varicella and invasive pneumococcal diseases.

This is a striking demonstration of the value of vaccinating children--a practice that is sometimes controversial, as many parents oppose it either for religious reasons or because of skepticism about its efficacy. Hopefully studies like these will address some of that skepticism and promote the use of vaccines in preventing deadly diseases.