Trivia: Immunization/Vaccination

The history of immunization is surprisingly long, particularly in light of the fact that germ theory wasn't accepted until later in the 1800s. It appears that as early as the 10th or 11th century in Central Asia, individuals were creating resistance to deadly smallpox by inhaling small amounts of the smallpox virus through the nose or by making a number of small pricks through the skin (variolation).

But it is Edward Jenner (1749–1823) who is credited with being the first, in 1798, to employ a much safer form of variolation – using the harmless cow pox virus to build people's immunity against smallpox.

Here are some facts about vaccines:

Which Diseases are Preventable by Vaccine?

Anthrax, cervical cancer, diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), human papillomavirus (HPV), influenza (flu), Japanese encephalitis (JE), lyme disease, measles, meningococcal, monkeypox, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumococcal, poliomyelitis (polio), rabies, rotavirus, rubella (German measles), shingles (herpes zoster), smallpox, tetanus (lockjaw), tuberculosis, typhoid fever, varicella (chickenpox), yellow fever

Immunization in the USA

The CDC released its annual National Immunization Survey on August 30, 2007, and reported that the percentage of American children aged 19 to 35 months of age who have received the recommended series of childhood vaccines was 77% in 2006, which was slightly higher than the reported 75.1% in 2005. The same report indicated that the percentage of adolescents who had received recommended vaccines varied widely by both vaccine and age, so more work must be done to protect older children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Immunization in Canada

The Public Health Agency of Canada's Canadian National Report on Immunization 2006 found that while 90% of parents of children in all age cohorts believed that their children were up to date for immunizations for their age group according to their provincial/territorial records, further analysis showed that only 61% of two-year-olds and 41% of seven-year-olds were up to date for the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended number of doses for the combination of DTaP-IPV-Hib and MMR vaccinations by their second and seventh birthdays, respectively. An April 23, 2008 news release from the Canadian Coalition for Immunization Awareness & Promotion states that adults are under-immunized in Canada, with a recent survey showing that 27% of adults do not know if their vaccines are up to date, 64% not keeping a record of the vaccinations they've had, and 60% not feeling knowledgeable about vaccinations for adults.

What is the Status of Global Immunization Coverage?

UNICEF's Immunization Summary: The 2007 Edition states that global measles coverage was at 77% in 2005 (though Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have lower coverage), while a June 2008 World Health Organization press release said, "Global coverage of infants with the DTP vaccine reached 79% in 2006, up from 20% in 1980, while the uptake of several under-used vaccines, including hepatitis B, rubella and yellow fever, is increasing."

Traveling? Which Vaccinations do you Need for Which Countries?

For More Information • The CDC's Vaccines & Immunizations page • MedlinePlus's Immunization page • The Public Health Agency of Canada's Immunization & Vaccines page Also see our earlier item: Trivia: Grand Challenges in Global Health.

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