Silver Book

Vaccination  /  Human Value

Between 5 and 10 million Americans acquire pneumonia, 35 to 50 million are afflicted with influenza, and 1 million get herpes zoster (shingles)–each year. Older Americans are much more likely to get these infections and to suffer from complications and death. In fact, the death rate from pneumonia and influenza combined is close to 130 times higher in people age 85 and older, compared to people ages 45 to 54. Thankfully, vaccinations are available for many of the most common and deadly infectious disease in older Americans, and can save countless lives and healthcare dollars.

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    • Immunization significantly lowers rates of leading infectious diseases
      Impact of Immunization on the Number of Annual Cases of Disease in the USA  
    • Drastic reduction of morbidity from vaccine-preventable disease in 20th century
      In the 20th century, vaccines have reduced the morbidity from vaccine-preventable diseases by as much as 89–100%.  
    • Eradication of infectious diseases from vaccination
      Spanning more than 200 years of research and development, 10 infectious diseases have been at least 90 percent eradicated in the United States thanks to vaccines.  
    • Vaccines save lives and money
      Between 2001 and 2010, vaccine use prevented an estimated 170,000 severe pneumococcal infections and 10,000 deaths, and saved an estimated $310 million in direct medical costs each year.  
    • Global use of vaccine prevents death
      Compared to estimated deaths without vaccination, global use of vaccination in 2001 prevented: 61% of measles deaths; 69% of tetanus deaths; 78% of pertussis (whooping cough) deaths; 94% of diphtheria…  
    • Shingles vaccine would reduce healthcare use
      Use of the shingles vaccine in immunocompetent adults could eliminate more than 300,000 outpatient visits, 375,000 prescriptions, 9,700 emergency room visits, and 10,000 hospitalizations.  
    • Use of shingles vaccines significantly reduced disease burden
      Use of a live attenuated VZV (varicella-zoster vaccine) in a randomized trial reduced the burden of illness from shingles by 61.1% and the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) by 66.5%.  
    • Shingles vaccine reduces incidence by >50%
      Use of a live attenuated VZV (varicella-zoster vaccine) in a randomized trial reduced the incidence of shingles by 51.3%.  
    • ~One-third of shingles death preventable with vaccine
      Approximately one-third of shingles deaths may be preventable through vaccination.  
    • Annual flu vaccine could save 275,000 QALYs
      Offering the influenza vaccine annually to all people over the age of 50 would save around 275,000 quality-adjusted life years over the lifetimes of a birth cohort of 4 million.…  
    • Staff vaccination in nursing homes reduces mortality rates of residents
      Mortality rates in nursing home residents were 42% lower in facilities with higher staff vaccination coverage compared with control facilities.  
    • Staff flu vaccination reduces incidence of staff and patients
      Vaccination of staff in a tertiary care facility over a period of 12 influenza seasons increased vaccination coverage from 4% to 67%, reduced laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza amongst staff from…  
    • Influenza vaccine use reduces antibiotic use
      Use of LAIV (live attenuated influenza virus) in healthy adults ages 18 to 65 reduced antibiotic use by 43% to 47%.  
    • Flu vaccine use reduces disease burden
      Use of the LAIV (live attenuated influenza virus) in healthy adults ages 18 to 64 reduced febrile illness by 19% and upper respiratory tract illnesses by 24%. It also…  
    • Flu vaccine use can reduce illness risk in U.S. by 60%
      Recent studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the influenza vaccine can reduce the risk of illness in the overall U.S. population by around 60%. …  
    • Over 6 years, flu vaccine prevented >110,000 hospitalizations and 5.8 million medical visits
      Over a 6-year period (2005 – 2011), the influenza vaccine prevented more than 110,000 hospitalizations and 5.8 million medical visits.  
    • Over 6 years, flu vaccine prevented ~13 million cases
      Over a 6-year period (2005 – 2011), the influenza vaccine prevented an estimated 13 million influenza cases–between 1.1 million and 5 million annually.  
    • Use of pneumonia vaccine in children reduced rates in adults age 65+
      Within a year of introduction of PCV7 (7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) for use in the U.S. in infants, children under 2 years, and high risk children ages 2 to 4;…  
    • Effectiveness of pneumonia vaccine
      PPSV23 (pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine) protects against 23 types of pneumococcal bacteria and is 60% to 80% effective in preventing pneumococcal bacteremia in adults over the age of 65 who are…  
    • Vaccines in development 2013
      137 vaccines are currently in development in the U.S. for infectious diseases.  
    • Eradication of smallpox has saved 40 million lives worldwide
      Since global vaccination efforts wiped out smallpox disease in 1979, infections in 350 million people have been prevented and 40 million lives have been saved.  
    • Polio vaccination prevented 5 million cases of paralysis since 1988
      Vaccination for polio reduced the number of worldwide cases from more than 300,000 per year in the 1980s to only 2,000 in 2002—also preventing an estimated 5 million cases of…  
    • Pertussis vaccination reduced global cases
      Vaccination helped reduce global pertussis (whooping cough) cases from 3 million per year to less 250,000.  
    • Diptheria vaccine significantly reduced annual cases
      Vaccination has played a significant role in reducing diphtheria cases from 80,000 in 1975 to less than 10,000 per year.  
    • Measles vaccines reduced cases from 6 million to 1 million per year
      Vaccination for measles reduced the number of worldwide deaths from 6 million in 1974 to less than 1 million per year.  
    • Life years saved from infectious disease eradication
      Infectious disease eradication in the U.S. led to the following annual life years saved (LYS): 5,811,852 for measles 42,702 for tetanus 212,690 for polio 1,685,740 for smallpox