#VaccinesWork - World Immunization Week, Vaccines & VALIDATE
Many infectious diseases have plagued humans for centuries. Most deaths before the 20th century were due to infectious disease: pneumonia, influenza (flu), smallpox, plague, dysentery, typhoid, diphtheria, malaria, tuberculosis (TB) – the list was long. In the 14th century up to a third of Europe’s population were killed by the Black Death alone. In the 1918-20 Spanish flu pandemic, 50-100 million people died across the world. Smallpox killed up to 80% of local people in some areas of South and Central America after its introduction by Europeans in the 15th century.
Fortunately, many of these diseases have been greatly reduced, and in some cases confined to history, by improved sanitation and modern medicine - and vaccines have played a crucial role in the reduction and even eradication of diseases that previously threatened millions of people.
Polio, for instance, is a virus transmitted in water contaminated with sewage. It used to be a worldwide threat to health, particularly to children, but cases have decreased from 350,000 in 1988, to just 22 reported cases worldwide in 2017, following a global eradication campaign that included vaccination. It is estimated that 1.5 million people have been saved by these efforts and, with 1 in 200 infections leading to irreversible paralysis, 16 million more have been saved from severe disability. Economic modelling has also found that polio eradication will save US$ 40–50 billion, mostly in low-income countries where it is needed most.
Worldwide polio cases (WHO/GPEI)
Smallpox, a contagious virus with no cure, killed around 3 out of every 10 people infected and left many survivors with permanent scars on their faces and bodies. Some were left blind. Smallpox killed 300-500 million people in the 20th century alone – it really was a scourge. Fortunately vaccination and a worldwide eradication programme led to smallpox being completely eliminated in 1980. Today no-one gets this disease or dies of this disease, thanks to vaccination.
Girl with smallpox in 1973 (CDC)
Today, vaccine-preventable diseases include cervical cancer, cholera, diphtheria, Hepatitis B, flu, Japanese encephalitis, measles, mumps, pertussis, pneumonia, polio, rabies, rotavirus, rubella, tetanus, typhoid, varicella and yellow fever – a long and successful list. 80% of one year old children across the globe receive life-saving vaccines, thanks to the hard work of organisations like GAVI, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and UNICEF. These vaccine programmes save lives, and prevent serious lifelong disabilities.
But vaccines frequently get a bad press. Despite saving millions of lives, some people hesitate about vaccinating themselves and their children. A link to autism is often mentioned, thanks to research by a UK doctor, Andrew Wakefield - this research paper was subsequently retracted (withdrawn) by the publisher due to the fraudulent data and unethical behaviour involved in the research. No link between autism and vaccines has been found across a multitude of subsequent studies. As a result of his behaviour, Andrew Wakefield was struck off the General Medical Council register and lost his licence to practice as a doctor in the UK but, unfortunately, scientific retractions and the dis-proving of news stories such as this do not often receive the media coverage of the original ‘news’ and many people remain uninformed. Vaccines are safe and effective but, as with any medicine, they can have side effects. The side effects of vaccination, though, are far less severe than that of catching the disease they are protecting you against. Some of the myths about vaccines are addressed in good articles here and here.
In fact, the success of vaccination campaigns mean that many of us have forgotten how serious diseases like measles and mumps can be. Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children worldwide, still, despite an effective vaccine being available – before an effective vaccine was developed it caused 2.6 million deaths every year. Measles can cause blindness, encephalitis (brain swelling), severe diarrhoea resulting in dehydration, and severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia. During 2000-2016 measles vaccination saved around 20 million lives, but measles is making a comeback in Europe and the USA as vaccine coverage has dropped. You can find reliable information about vaccines, infectious diseases, and your child’s vaccine schedule at the Vaccine Knowledge Project.
Despite millions of lives being saved by vaccines, during World Immunization Week at VALIDATE we’re remembering that many infectious diseases still do not have effective vaccines, and millions of people are affected every year by diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), leishmaniasis, leprosy, melioidosis, HIV, malaria and hepatitis C. At VALIDATE researchers around the world are uniting to accelerate vaccine development for TB, leishmaniasis, leprosy and melioidosis. These are all neglected diseases, where research has historically been under-funded compared to headline diseases such as malaria and HIV. But, surprisingly for many people, TB kills 1.7 million people every year – more than malaria and HIV combined. VALIDATE’s focus pathogens cause significant death and disease worldwide, impact the economic productivity of people living in poverty, and detrimentally affect low and middle income country economies. At VALIDATE our members are working hard to develop vaccines that will end this suffering and enable people across the globe to live lives free from these diseases.
You can follow the VALIDATE Network’s news, research and activities on our website (www.validate-network.org) and Twitter (@NetworkVALIDATE).
Published: 30 April 2018
