Some parents wonder if vaccines are still necessary. Yes! Vaccines are still necessary! Because several of the diseases that vaccines prevent have almost disappeared, or occur in low numbers, many parents of young children today have never seen a case of measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), polio, diphtheria, or tetanus. If we don't see these diseases, it can be hard to understand why it is still important to protect against them. But without vaccines, epidemics of vaccine-preventable diseases could return, putting the health of our children and the community at higher risk.

San Diego is a very mobile community, with many tourists, immigrants and international business travelers. We have several major military bases, numerous universities, and a multi-million dollar visitor industry. The border with Mexico is the busiest international crossing in the U.S. with an estimated 6 million legal border crossings per month. With so many people on the move, it is important to realize that outbreaks of these diseases are highly possible in our community. We may not see a disease in our neighborhood, but the bacteria and viruses responsible are still around. Since the 1990s, there have been major outbreaks of diphtheria in the countries of the former Soviet Union when political events led to the breakdown of immunizations. While the World Health Organization's goal is to eradicate polio from the face of the earth within the next decade, as of 2007 polio is endemic to 4 countries (Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan). Also, the following countries have reported imported polio cases or cases related to an importation in the past 6 months: Angola, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Niger, and Sudan. Of these countries, DRC and Burma (Myanmar) had previously been polio-free for over 5 years.

• Polio would paralyze 10,000 children;
• Rubella (German measles) would cause birth defects, including mental retardation, in as many as 20,000 newborns;
• Measles would infect about 4 million children, killing 3,000;
• Diphtheria would be one of the most common causes of death in school-aged children;
• The bacterium haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) would cause meningitis in 15,000 children, leaving many with permanent brain damage, and
• Pertussis (whooping cough) would kill 8,000 children, mostly under the age of one year.

The development and widespread use of vaccines has reduced and, in some cases almost eliminated, many diseases that killed and disabled children and adults in our grandparents' generation.

Here are a few examples of the powerful impact that immunizations have had. This is only a small sampling of the information available. We encourage you to link to the web sites listed under Other Resources for the latest scientific information and vaccine research summaries.

Polio (more information...)
Prior to vaccination, between 13,000 and 20,000 polio cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were reported each year in the United States. There is now a global effort to eliminate the disease through vaccination and as a result wild polioviruses have been eliminated from this country. But it still occurs in other parts of the world such as India, where children are commonly paralyzed by polio.

Measles (more information...)
Before measles immunizations were available, nearly everyone in the United States got measles. There were about 3-4 million cases each year. An average of 450 measles-associated deaths were reported each year between 1953 and 1963. Some people with measles develop encephalitis, and 1 out of 1,000 people with measles die. But widespread use of the vaccine has led to more than a 95 percent reduction in measles.

Measles still occurs throughout the world, and is frequently imported into the United States. In 1995, there were 1.1 million deaths worldwide from measles. If vaccinations were stopped, 2.7 million deaths could be expected. San Diego had 2 cases last year and has already had 1 this year, which was imported from Japan.

Stopping measles vaccination would probably lead to the return of massive epidemics similar to those that occurred in the pre-vaccine era. In 2008, San Diego County saw the first local outbreak of measles since 1991.Twelve cases were reported and some 70 people were quarantined at their homes to interrupt the spread of the disease.

Pertussis (more information...)
Before pertussis (whooping cough) immunizations were available, nearly all children developed pertussis. In the United States, prior to pertussis immunizations, between 150,000 and 260,000 cases of pertussis were reported each year with up to 9,000 pertussis-related deaths.

Pertussis can be a severe illness, resulting in prolonged coughing and vomiting spells that can last for weeks. These spells can make it difficult for a child to eat, drink and breathe. In infants, it can cause pneumonia and lead to brain damage, seizures and mental retardation.

In San Diego County, we had over 120 reported cases of pertussis in our community in 2000.

Chickenpox (Varicella) (more information...)
Chickenpox is very contagious. Imagine 100 people sitting in a room together for several hours talking. If only one person in the room has chickenpox, and the other 99 have never been infected with chickenpox or vaccinated with the chickenpox vaccine, then about 85 of the 99 will get chickenpox!

Before the varicella vaccine was recommended for use in all children in 1995, about 4 million children were infected every year. One child and one adult in this country would die every week from chickenpox. In addition, chickenpox caused about 10,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths a year - most of these hospitalizations and deaths occurred in previously healthy young children. It's important to realize that chickenpox can cause severe disease in children.

For the testimony of one mother, read "Chickenpox claimed the life of my son, Christopher"

Pneumococcal Disease (more information...)
Before the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine, every year parents of children less than 5 years of age (in the United States) could count on the following:

• Pneumococcus would cause 1,400 cases of meningitis
• Pneumococcus would cause 17,000 cases of bloodstream infections
• Pneumococcus would cause 71,000 cases of pneumonia

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The information on this website should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider may recommend variations in treatment based on individual facts and circumstances.