In the US, only a few hundred people die of this disease or that disease. Just a few thousand die of the flu. Among 300 million people, that doesn't seem like much. Worldwide, Measles deaths have dropped 74%, Polio deaths have dropped 99% and Tetanus deaths have dropped 94%. And that's just a selection. The United States, being highly privileged, has a remarkably effective public health program which has eliminated many diseases from the US population. But we cannot pretend that we are isolated.
In 2011, 62,325,354 people traveled to the United States and in 2010 37,354,842 residents of the US traveled internationally. Any of these people could have sparked an outbreak of disease that isn't common in the US. So that we're dealing with numbers relevant to each other, 2010 incoming international travel was 59,744,964. That means, in 2010 ALONE, 97,099,806 may have exposed US residents to diseases not common here. And this includes diseases that can be spread with a single sneeze, a handshake, a hug, opening a door after someone...
Vaccination in the US used to be a celebrated advance of science welcomed by people who lost too many children, too many loved ones, to terrible sickness. But now it is starting to feel like a chore for so many who have never seen the damage these diseases can do and about 10% of parents are opting out of childhood vaccination and many adults don't know the boosters they are missing. The last case of Smallpox in the US was in 1949, the last case worldwide was in 1977 and it wasn't officially certified as eradicated until 1980. That means, for roughly 30 years after we no longer have ANY cases of diseases here, we still have to be prepared for what those 1 Billion traveling people might bring us each year.
You see, infectious disease doesn't care who you are. They don't care if you eat organic. They don't care if you homeschool. They don't care if you're rich or clean or "informed." They will find you and they will use your body to reproduce. And they will maim or kill you without a moment's concern. Vaccines are not 100% effective. But when adopted by the majority of people, sufficient protection is rendered to halt transmission which will eventually eradicate disease.
The Smallpox vaccines, especially the early ones, were TERRIBLE. No lie. The new one is made from a related virus, cannot give you Smallpox, and has a low rate of side effects. The old one... it had some nasty side effects. But the side effects were almost always less terrible than the disease and the vaccines over the years were highly effective. They were so effective that we don't think of Smallpox as being a disease of the 1930s and 1940s, but one of the 1800s. But we didn't let down our guard when it "only" killed a couple hundred people a year. We kept going until it was GONE. And now it is GONE everywhere and, if no one is a doucheface and releases it, NO ONE WILL EVER DIE OF SMALLPOX AGAIN. That's an amazing thing to say, isn't it? No one will ever die of Smallpox again.
In the US, we vaccinate for diseases caused by 9 viruses (Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HPV, Influenza, Measles, Mumps, Polio, Rubella, Rotavirus, Varicella) and 6 bacteria (HIB, Diphtheria, Meningococcal, Pertussis, Pneumococcal, and Tetanus) in 1 to 4 doses of 12 vaccines. The Influenza shot, of course, is annual, but soon, soon, soon we will have a universal Influenza shot and then everyone will only need one more dose (and maybe a booster or two). If we keep this up for a few more decades, we will eradicate 15 horrible diseases, several secondary conditions, and countless cases of opportunistic infection.
January 12, 2012 I sobbed my happy little heart out. On that day, India had seen a full year since her last diagnosis of Polio. Polio is not officially eradicated there, but the hope is strong. Polio is prevalent in just 6 countries now, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan have never eradicated Polio, and Angola, Chad, and Democratic Republic of Congo previously eradicated Polio but it has reemerged thanks to international transmission. There are isolated outbreaks from international transmission in 11 countries, Central African Republic, China, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, and Uganda. Concerted effort will help prevent these outbreaks from taking hold on the population. 17 countries left. And if we can keep it together, in just a few more years, we can say NO ONE WILL EVER DIE OF POLIO AGAIN. Wow. Can you imagine? It's a chant of hope and of the power of human initiative. Some day soon, no one will ever die of Polio again.
The world is a lot smaller than it used to be. People travel quickly, and they take their diseases with them. They communicate and touch and learn from each other, and make each other sick. If we stay committed to preventing infection through immunization, we can be confident that not only will *I* never get sick from Measles or Tetanus or HPV, but that NO ONE WILL EVER DIE OF Diphtheria, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HIB , HPV, Influenza, Measles, Meningococcal, Mumps, Pertussis, Pneumococcal, Polio, Rubella, Rotavirus, Tetanus, OR Varicella EVER AGAIN! And that will be a magical day for humanity.
It isn't about me. It is about the whole of humanity. It is about people I will never meet and about people I interact with every day. No one should ever get sick if we can do something about it. And we CAN do something about it. Someday no one will ever have to get any of these 12 vaccines. But we have to stick with it for just a little while longer. I promise it will be worth it.
Love this post.,full of great facts!
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