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- Polio, measles and rubella have all been eliminated in the United States.
- Smallpox has also been eradicated worldwide.
- Vaccines have contributed to the elimination of these diseases.
This month, the World Health Organization made headlines for declaring reluctance to vaccines – "reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite availability of vaccines" – a threat to global health. 2019.
But even in the United States, outbreaks of preventable diseases have recently erupted among unvaccinated groups of people. On January 18, for example, officials in Clark County, Washington State, declared an emergency after identifying at least 23 cases of measles, mainly among unvaccinated children. In the state of New York, some Orthodox Jewish communities with lower vaccination rates also experience measles outbreaks, the New York Times reported.
But, at a time when some may be reluctant to vaccinate, it's good to remember that the widespread use of vaccines has eliminated a handful of diseases that have already caused paralysis, birth defects and death. .
Let's take a closer look at four diseases that have been eliminated in the United States.
1. Smallpox
Smallpox, a contagious disease caused by the variola virus, has not been eliminated in the United States: it has been completely eradicated from the world since 1980, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). And yes, there is a difference between these two terms.
"The eradication is the complete elimination of a disease all over the world over a period of time, so we know that she's really gone," said Dr. INSIDER Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
Elimination, on the other hand, means that the transmission of an illness has stopped in a given country or geographical region, but not worldwide. In these cases, interventions such as vaccination must be continued to prevent the return of the disease, Benjamin explained.
Smallpox may have disappeared today, but in the past, it was a deeply dreaded disease that spread worldwide, killing an average of three people on ten who contracted it, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). . It caused fever and an increasingly serious rash, leaving the survivors healed and sometimes blind.
All this has changed thanks to the smallpox vaccine – the first successful vaccine ever developed. It was introduced by a British doctor named Edward Jenner in 1796, according to the WHO. Vaccination spread rapidly in England, and in 1800 it reached most of Europe.
Read more: The first vaccine was created thanks to a shocking experience in an 8-year-old boy
In the United States, the last natural outbreak of the disease occurred in 1949 and the disease was declared eliminated in 1952, according to the CDC.
In the 1960s, while smallpox still existed in Africa and Asia, WHO launched a global smallpox eradication program. The program combined multiple strategies, including vaccination campaigns, smallpox surveillance and preventive measures, to achieve the eradication of the disease.
"What made the eradication of smallpox possible, is that the only real hosts [of the disease] are people, "said Benjamin. And we have a vaccine for that. We were able to both stop transmission and prevent people from getting it in the first place. "
Today, there are only two laboratories where the smallpox virus is stored under WHO surveillance: one in the United States and one in Russia.
2. measles
Measles is so contagious that if an individual catches it, 90% of non-immune individuals who are close to that person will also be infected, according to the CDC. It is caused by a virus and causes symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes and, later, a red rash that may coincide with a fever.
However, some people with measles develop serious or life-threatening complications, such as pneumonia or encephalitis (lung infection) (the scientific name for brain swelling). The risk of these complications is higher in children under 5 and adults over 20 years of age. For 1,000 children with measles, one or two will die.
Read more: The dangerous measles outbreak near Portland, Oregon, is what happens when people refuse to vaccinate their children
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, but in the United States, the disease is still transmitted by infected travelers who report it from other countries, sometimes causing epidemics in places where the population is not vaccinated.
"Many of these [measles] outbreaks have occurred as imported cases, which means that the person with the disease has introduced them into a community of unvaccinated people, "said Benjamin.
The annual number of measles cases has varied considerably since complete elimination by the United States. In 2004, there were only 37 cases, but in 2014 there were 667.
But these numbers are paltry compared to the pre-vaccine era, where 3 to 4 million Americans contracted measles each year, making nearly 400 to 500 deaths, according to the CDC.
To prevent measles infection, the CDC recommends that all children receive two doses of MMR vaccine, which also protects against mumps and rubella.
3. Rubella
Rubella is a viral infection that usually causes mild illness in children and adults. Although some infected people have symptoms such as rash and mild fever, 25 to 50% of people with rubella have no symptoms, according to the CDC.
But rubella can lead to serious complications for pregnant women and their babies.
If a pregnant woman is infected with rubella, she risks stillbirth and miscarriage. The virus can also be transmitted to the unborn baby through conbad rubella syndrome (CRS). CRS can cause birth defects, including heart defects, liver damage, and intellectual disabilities.
From 1964 to 1965, the United States experienced its last major rubella outbreak, in which 11,000 pregnant women lost their babies, 2,100 infants died, and 20,000 babies were born with SRC, according to the report. CDC.
But after the country launched its rubella immunization program in 1969 and vaccination became more widespread, cases of the disease fell sharply.
In 2004, rubella was declared eliminated in the United States, but it is still present in other countries, allowing travelers to introduce it to the United States. At present, fewer than 10 people are reported to have rubella each year in the United States, but since 2012, all reported rubella cases in the United States have been linked to out-of-country travel, the report said. CDC website. That's why it's important to stay up to date on the MMR vaccine.
4. Polio
Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious viral disease that mainly affects children under 5 years of age. It invades the nervous system and can lead to permanent paralysis or death.
Due to widespread vaccination, polio has been eliminated in the United States, according to the CDC.
This has not always been the case. In the early 1950s, polio outbreaks resulted in more than 15,000 cases of paralysis each year in the United States. Then, with the introduction of poliomyelitis vaccines in 1955 and 1963, the number of cases began to decrease dramatically.
No cases of the disease have appeared in this country since 1979, although polio was introduced into the country by travelers. (This was most recently the case in 1993.) Maintaining high immunization rates is the best way to ensure that the country remains polio-free, adds the CDC website.
At the global level, impressive progress has also been made against polio. Polio cases have decreased by more than 99% worldwide since 1988, according to the WHO, although they have still not been eradicated. In fact, three countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria – have never stopped polio transmission.
Read more: Bill Gates says that a potentially disabling and deadly virus, which we have almost eliminated, could "come back a lot if we do not finish the job"
But the eradication of polio is a real possibility. According to the WHO, there are three strains of wild poliovirus and none can survive long outside the human body. Without anyone to infect, the virus will disappear.
The WHO has indicated in its Global Health Threat List for 2019 that 2019 could be the year when polio transmission ends in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Fewer than 30 cases were reported in both countries last year.
"The WHO and its partners have pledged to help these countries vaccinate every last child in order to permanently eradicate this debilitating disease," the list says.
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