Vaccine-preventable disease

A vaccine-preventable disease is an infectious disease for which an effective preventive vaccine exists. When someone gets one of these diseases and passes away because of it, it is called a vaccine-preventable death.

Some of the most serious vaccine-preventable diseases are tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). These include diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae serotype b infection, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, pertussis, poliomyelitis, rubella, tetanus, tuberculosis, and yellow fever. The WHO says there are licensed vaccines to help prevent or control 31 different infections that could be stopped with vaccines.

Background

In 2012, the World Health Organization found that vaccines help save 2.5 million lives each year. If everyone got their vaccines and they worked perfectly, one out of every seven deaths in young children could be stopped. This is very important for global health, especially in places where resources are limited.

Most vaccine-preventable deaths happen from four diseases: measles, Haemophilus influenzae serotype b, pertussis, and neonatal tetanus. Sometimes people can't get vaccines because they can't afford them or can't reach a place to get them. Also, some vaccines might not be right for everyone because of health reasons like severe allergies or a damaged immune system. Each country decides which vaccines to use based on what diseases are common there and what their health goals are. For example, people in Canada and the United States usually don’t get vaccines for yellow fever, which means they could get sick if they travel to areas where that disease is common.

List of vaccine-preventable diseases

See also: List of human disease case fatality rates

The WHO lists 28 diseases for which vaccines are available:

1. Chikungunya
2. Cholera
3. COVID-19
4. Dengue fever
5. Diphtheria
6. Haemophilus influenzae type b
7. Hepatitis (A and B only)
8. Human papillomavirus infection
9. Influenza
10. Japanese encephalitis
11. Malaria
12. Measles
13. Meningococcal meningitis
14. Mumps
15. Pertussis
16. Pneumococcal disease
17. Poliomyelitis
18. Rabies
19. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)
20. Rotavirus
21. Rubella
22. Smallpox and mpox
23. Tetanus
24. Tick-borne encephalitis
25. Tuberculosis
26. Typhoid fever
27. Varicella
28. Yellow fever

Used in non humans

1. Bordetella
2. Canine distemper
3. Canine influenza
4. Canine parvovirus
5. Chlamydia
6. Feline calicivirus
7. Feline distemper
8. Feline leukemia
9. Feline viral rhinotracheitis
10. Leptospirosis
11. Lyme disease

Vaccine-preventable diseases demonstrated in the laboratory on other animals

Scientists have tested ways to stop some diseases in animals. For example, they studied a bacteria called Enterococcus gallinarum on mice to find ways to prevent illnesses that the body might attack itself because of the bacteria.