Smallpox was a disease that had the capability to ravage entire communities, spreading fast and killing efficiently, yet not much is heard about the disease anymore. That is because a vaccine against smallpox was developed and widely distributed, and the disease was effectively driven to extinction because it was incapable of infecting and spreading between people. Vaccines, which are weakened forms of a disease that allow a person to develop a resistance to said diseases, have allowed humans to avoid many illnesses, from the irritating to the deadly. Measles, mumps, and rubella are a trio of diseases that can be prevented by a single vaccine, limiting the spread of these highly infectious and potentially deadly diseases, yet this vaccine
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With the advances in medical care of today, an estimated 1 in 3000 people who are infected with measles die due to complications, and many more are hospitalized. “During the late 1950s, an estimated 3–4 million measles cases occurred annually in the United States, with 48,000 reported hospitalizations and 450 reported deaths” (Chen et al.). After the MMR vaccine became widespread, however the number of reported cases has decreased dramatically, with an average of 56 reported annually between 2001 and 2008. While other factors such as increased sanitation and increased awareness of these diseases have had a part in limiting the spread of measles and mumps, vaccines have played the largest role. In the article “Characteristics of a Large Mumps Outbreak: Clinical Severity, Complications and Association with Vaccination Status of Mumps Outbreak Cases” written by Stein Zamir et al, the effectiveness of the MMR vaccine in a recent mumps outbreak in the Netherlands found that the chances of orchitis, other complications, and hospitalization dropped by 74 percent, 76 percent, and 82 percent respectively. In another smaller outbreak in Germany, the vaccine was found to have a 91.9 percent effectiveness. Overall, “Vaccine effectiveness . . . in children and adolescents was estimated as 64-66% for one vaccine dose and 83-88% for 2 doses” (Zamir et al. 1), showing the vaccine greatly reduces the chances of an …show more content…
In 2011, the U.S. experienced about 107 cases of measles, which resulted in a cost of around 2.7 to 5.3 million U.S. dollars (Ortega-Sanchez et al.). In a separate investigation, a single imported case of measles in Kentucky cost healthcare institutions about 25,000 U.S. dollars (Coleman et al.). Some will argue that this is inconsequential, but that is far from the case. These cases of measles were avoidable, and the cost they enact on healthcare industries causes funds and resources that could be used to deal with other, less preventable issues rather than
With the advances in medical care of today, an estimated 1 in 3000 people who are infected with measles die due to complications, and many more are hospitalized. “During the late 1950s, an estimated 3–4 million measles cases occurred annually in the United States, with 48,000 reported hospitalizations and 450 reported deaths” (Chen et al.). After the MMR vaccine became widespread, however the number of reported cases has decreased dramatically, with an average of 56 reported annually between 2001 and 2008. While other factors such as increased sanitation and increased awareness of these diseases have had a part in limiting the spread of measles and mumps, vaccines have played the largest role. In the article “Characteristics of a Large Mumps Outbreak: Clinical Severity, Complications and Association with Vaccination Status of Mumps Outbreak Cases” written by Stein Zamir et al, the effectiveness of the MMR vaccine in a recent mumps outbreak in the Netherlands found that the chances of orchitis, other complications, and hospitalization dropped by 74 percent, 76 percent, and 82 percent respectively. In another smaller outbreak in Germany, the vaccine was found to have a 91.9 percent effectiveness. Overall, “Vaccine effectiveness . . . in children and adolescents was estimated as 64-66% for one vaccine dose and 83-88% for 2 doses” (Zamir et al. 1), showing the vaccine greatly reduces the chances of an …show more content…
In 2011, the U.S. experienced about 107 cases of measles, which resulted in a cost of around 2.7 to 5.3 million U.S. dollars (Ortega-Sanchez et al.). In a separate investigation, a single imported case of measles in Kentucky cost healthcare institutions about 25,000 U.S. dollars (Coleman et al.). Some will argue that this is inconsequential, but that is far from the case. These cases of measles were avoidable, and the cost they enact on healthcare industries causes funds and resources that could be used to deal with other, less preventable issues rather than