A few fun facts/statistics on vaccines

Here are a few fun facts/statistics about vaccines:

• Vaccine-preventable diseases account for 25% of deaths in children <5 years old worldwide (mostly in under-developed countries).

• Studies are done on vaccines to determine the best timing and strength of vaccines. All of the current vaccines currently received (in the US) prior to the teen years have ~125 immunogenic proteins compared to >3,200 in 1960.

• A vaccine against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) was first introduced in 2007 and updated in 2015. This vaccine protects against cervical and mouth/throat cancers. Unfortunately ~25% of all girls in the US have contracted a high-risk strain by the end of high school (though the body often fights it off). For each year vaccine rates stay at the current rate of ~30% (instead of the goal of 80%), 4,400 future cervical cancer cases and 1,400 cervical cancer deaths will occur. In the US there are ~26,000 HPV-related cancers each year, ~4,000 of whom will die of cervical cancer.

• Measles infected 3-4 million people/year and killed 400-500 kids/year prior to vaccine introduction in the US. ~48,000 were hospitalized and ~1,000 developed chronic disability from measles encephalitis each year (prior to the vaccine being introduced).

• Rotavirus: Prior to introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, 1 in 7 US children required medical assistance, 1 in 70 was hospitalized, and 1 in 200,000 died (400-500k doctors’ visits, 200k ED visits, 55-70k hospitalizations, and 20-60 deaths/year). It prevents ~40,000 hospitalizations of kids <5 years old per year in the US. It's estimated to save ~$250 million per year.

• Chickenpox (varicella): Prior to the US vaccination program, the US had ~4 million cases, 11-13.5k hospitalizations, and 100-150 varicella-related deaths annually.