Celebrate Health! It is National Infant Immunization Week

From Shot of Prevention

State health departments, health care professionals, immunization partners across the country and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are all working together this week to  promote National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW).  From April 20th through April 27th various efforts will be made to highlight the positive impact of vaccination and bring attention to our many immunization achievements.  The ultimate goal is to continue to reduce infant death and disability caused by preventable diseases in the United States, and to emphasize the ways in which immunizations provide the power to protect.

While there may be specific actions to highlight immunizations throughout the week, we want to begin by acknowledging the important accomplishments we’ve already achieved.  For instance,

• Immunization advances currently enable us to protect infants and children from 14 different vaccine-preventable diseases before they reach age two.
• Routine childhood immunization of all children born in just one year in the U.S. prevents about 20 million cases of disease and about 42,000 deaths.
• Immunization saves our nation about $13.6 billion in direct costs each year.
• The National Immunization Survey has consistently shown that childhood immunization rates for routinely recommended vaccines remain at or near record levels.

Every immunization advocate should be proud to know that their hard work contributes to these important milestones.  But of course, this doesn’t mean we can rest easy.  There is always room for improvement.  Children in the United States can—and  do—still suffer and sometimes even die from vaccine preventable diseases.   For example, in 2012, more than 50 people were reported to have measles.  In addition, preliminary data from the CDC reports more than 41,000 cases of whooping cough (pertussis) in the United States alone last year - the highest number of pertussis cases in any one year in the U.S. since 1955.  Sadly, these cases resulted in 18 deaths, most of which were among children younger than a year old. Read more…

I remain a staunch advocate of public health and immunizations