Vaccination saves lives-Know your Vaccines

Abstract

Vaccine history dates back to 18^th century. Edward Jenner, a renowned physician known as the father of vaccination discovered small pox vaccine and gave the world a hope to reduce the morbidity and mortality from various diseases by way of vaccination not only from smallpox but from other infectious diseases as well over the time. Among the few measures in public health over the last century, the impact of vaccination has been unparallel. Vaccinations have reduced disease, disability, and death from a variety of infectious diseases. The only human disease ever eradicated, smallpox, was eradicated using a vaccine, and a second, polio, is near eradication, also using vaccines (1,2).

Vaccines not only provide individual protection for those persons who are vaccinated, they also provide community protection by reducing the spread of disease within a population. Person-to-person infection is spread when a infected case comes in contact with a susceptible person. If the transmitting case only comes in contact with immune individuals, then the infection does not spread beyond the index case and is rapidly controlled within the population. Interestingly, this chain of human-to-human transmission can be interrupted, even if there is not 100% immunity, because transmitting cases do not have infinite contacts; this is referred to as “herd immunity” or “community protection,” and is an important benefit of vaccination.