Immunization

Immunization against smallpox is an example of the success possible through universal vaccination programs. Accounts of immunization against smallpox were reported as long ago as the 1600s. At that time, uninfected individuals were exposed to material (e.g., pus) from patients suffering from mild disease in the hopes of preventing more serious or fatal disease. In the late 1700s, Edward Jenner, a physician in England, promoted the widespread use of the cowpox virus to prevent smallpox. Two centuries later, on October 26, 1979, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated from the entire world.

The success of other immunization campaigns in the United States is shown in Table 2. The incidence of vaccine-preventable disease has been reduced between 97.6 and 100 percent through the use of universal immunization.

This success could not have been achieved without the combined efforts of researchers, health-care providers, and families. Researchers are responsible for the development of a wide variety of safe, effective vaccines against common childhood diseases. Health-care providers are responsible for ensuring that children receive the appropriate and required immunizations. And families are responsible for bringing their children in for routine child-health supervision visits. At the beginning of the twenty-first century in the United States, record numbers of children were being immunized. This is an essential part of the success of immunizations in this country.