What is immunization good for?

Many benefits: Vaccines prevent diseases that can cause illness, disability and death. In just the last few decades, for example, the availability of vaccines to prevent infection with Hib, a bacteria that caused meningitis, epiglottitis and sepsis, has saved countless lives and prevented disability. Prior to the vaccine, one in 200 children under the age of five years developed serious Hib infection and up to 30 percent of those became permanently hearing impaired. Even with antibiotic treatment, Hib disease caused over 400 childhood deaths a year, the tip of a huge iceberg of disability. It was the leading cause of acquired mental retardation. Effective vaccination has reduced the rate of Hib disease by 99%. The current generation of parents has had the benefit of never knowing someone with polio, smallpox, measles, meningitis due to Hib, diphtheria, tetanus. Most have never seen Rubella, a common illness prior to vaccine introduction. During an epidemic of Rubella between 1964 and 1965, about 20,000 infants were born with deafness, blindness, heart disease, mental retardation, and other birth defects because the rubella virus infected their pregnant mothers. The meningococcal vaccine prevents an illness that can result in permanent and profound brain damage, lead to amputation of limbs, and can result in death very quickly. Epidemiological studies have clearly demonstrated that vaccination against influenza in the community can prevent about 23,000 deaths per year in those over 65 regardless of their immunization status, making unvaccinated children potential bioterrorists for their grandparents during a flu epidemic. Over 10,000 deaths per year from pneumonia in those over 65 have been prevented with vaccines. Effective coverage of a community with vaccination provides protection for those too fragile to be vaccinated such as those with leukaemia, who often die from vaccine preventable diseases . The cost benefits of vaccination are indisputable with figures of savings of over $25.00 in direct costs per dollar spent on vaccine development, manufacture and administration. The cost reduction approaches billions of dollars a year.