Safeguarding Our Health
Vaccines Protect Us All
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\n We share more than food and culture within our homes and communities. We can also spread disease. Luckily, we live in a time when vaccines can protect us from many of the most serious illnesses. Staying current on your shots helps you\u2014and your neighbors\u2014avoid getting and spreading disease.
\nVaccines have led to large reductions in illness and death\u2014for both kids and adults\u2014compared with the \u201cpre-vaccine era,\u201d says Dr. David M. Koelle, a vaccine expert at the University of Washington in Seattle. Vaccines will prevent about 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations, and 732,000 deaths among U.S. children born over the last 20 years, according to a recent report.
\nVaccines harness your immune system\u2019s natural ability to detect and destroy disease-causing germs and then \u201cremember\u201d the best way to fight these germs in the future. Vaccination, or immunization, has completely eliminated naturally occurring smallpox worldwide\u2014to the point that we no longer need to get shots against this fast-spreading, once-deadly disease. Polio too has been eliminated in the U.S. and most other nations as well, thanks to immunizations. Poliovirus can affect the brain and spinal cord, leaving people unable to move their arms or legs, or sometimes unable to breathe.
\n\u201cThese childhood diseases used to be dreaded problems that would kill or paralyze children,\u201d says Koelle. \u201cIn the 1950s, it was a common occurrence for kids to be fine in the spring, get polio over the summer, and then have to go back to school in the fall no longer able to walk.\u201d
\nExperts recommend that healthy children and teens get shots against 16 diseases (see Wise Choices box). With this growing list, many disabling or life-threatening illnesses have significantly declined in the U.S., including measles, rubella, and whooping cough. But, unlike smallpox, these disease-causing germs, or pathogens, still exist around the world.
\n\u201cThese days, the risks of not being vaccinated in a developed country, like the United States, may seem superficially safe because of low rates of infection due to vaccination and other advances in public health,\u201d says Koelle. \u201cBut we live in an era of international travel where we can be exposed to mobile pathogens.\u201d So even if you don\u2019t travel, a neighbor or classmate could go overseas and bring the disease back to your area.
\n\u201cWhen the rates of vaccination drop, there can be a resurgence of the disease,\u201d explains Dr. Saad Omer, a global health researcher at Emory University in Atlanta. For instance, measles was completely eliminated in the U.S. in 2000. But since then, hundreds of travel-related cases have occurred, with a spike of more than 600 measles cases in 2014.
\nOmer and colleagues examined U.S. reports on measles outbreaks since 2000. \u201cWe found that measles cases have occurred mostly in those who are not vaccinated and in communities that have lower rates of vaccination. And that\u2019s true for many vaccine-preventable diseases,\u201d Omer says. Most of the unvaccinated cases were those who chose not to be vaccinated or not to have their children vaccinated for non-medical reasons.
\nWhen enough people are vaccinated, the entire community gains protection from the disease. This is called community immunity. It helps to stop the spread of disease and protects the most vulnerable: newborns, the elderly, and people fighting serious illnesses like cancer. During these times, your immune system is often too weak to fend off disease and may not be strong enough for vaccinations. Avoiding exposure becomes key to safeguarding your health.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a huge benefit to all of us getting the recommended vaccines,\u201d explains Dr. Martha Alexander-Miller, an immune system expert at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC. \u201cNumber one, vaccines protect you. But they also limit the presence of disease-causing entities that are circulating in the community. So, you\u2019re helping to protect individuals who may not be capable of protecting themselves, for example because they are too young to get vaccinated.\u201d
\nWhen expectant moms are vaccinated, immune protection can pass through the placenta to the fetus. \u201cEarly on, the baby\u2019s immune system is immature. So there\u2019s a period of vulnerability where disease and death can occur,\u201d Omer explains. \u201cBut the mother\u2019s own antibodies\u2014proteins formed by her immune system\u2014can protect the baby.\u201d
\nDoctors recommend that moms-to-be get both flu and Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough) shots, so her body will make antibodies against these diseases. A mother\u2019s antibodies can help protect the newborn until they can receive their own vaccinations.
\nSome vaccines must be given before pregnancy. Rubella, for instance, can cause life-altering birth defects or miscarriage if contracted during pregnancy. There\u2019s no treatment, but the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine given pre-pregnancy offers prevention. Vaccines for many other common diseases that put newborns at risk are being studied.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve made amazing progress in the development of effective vaccines,\u201d says Alexander-Miller. \u201cOur ability to have such breakthroughs is the end result of very basic research that went on for years and years. But we still don\u2019t know everything that we need to know about how to create the very best vaccine.\u201d NIH-funded scientists are continuing to search for new ways to stimulate protection against various diseases.
\nKoelle studies how our bodies fight herpes viruses. There are 8 related herpes viruses, but the body responds differently to each one. So far, we only have a vaccine for one: varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles.
\nKoelle\u2019s team is comparing how our immune system responds to chickenpox and the herpes simplex viruses, which cause mouth and genital sores. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to harness the success that has been possible with the chickenpox vaccine and see if we can create a vaccine that would work for both chickenpox and shingles and also herpes simplex,\u201d he says.
\nResearchers are also working to improve existing vaccines. Some vaccines require a series of shots to trigger a strong immune response. The protection of other vaccines can fade over time, so booster shots may be needed. Some, like the flu vaccine, require a shot each year because the virus changes so that the vaccine no longer protects against new strains. So keeping up with the latest flu vaccines is important.
\nAsk your doctor\u2019s office whether your vaccinations are current. You may also find records of vaccinations at your state health department or schools. If you can\u2019t find your records, ask your doctor if it\u2019s OK to get a vaccine you might have received before.
\nMost side effects of vaccines are mild, such as a sore arm, headache, or low-grade fever.
\n\u201cIt can be easy to take vaccines for granted, because you\u2019ll never know all the times you would\u2019ve gotten really sick had you not been vaccinated,\u201d says Alexander-Miller.
\nHelp your community keep diseases at bay: Stay up-to-date with vaccines.
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References
Benefits from immunization during the vaccines for children program era - United States, 1994-2013. Whitney CG, Zhou F, Singleton J, Schuchat A; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014 Apr 25;63(16):352-5. PMID: 24759657.
Association Between Vaccine Refusal and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the United States: A Review of Measles and Pertussis. Phadke VK, Bednarczyk RA, Salmon DA, Omer SB. JAMA. 2016 Mar 15;315(11):1149-58. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.1353. Review. Erratum in: JAMA. 2016 May 17;315(19):2125. PMID: 26978210.
\nExtensive CD4 and CD8 T Cell Cross-Reactivity between Alphaherpesviruses. Jing L, Laing KJ, Dong L, Russell RM, et al. J Immunol. 2016 Mar 1;196(5):2205-18. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1502366. Epub 2016 Jan 25. PMID: 26810224.
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