Dr. Ulysses Wu Chief of Infectious Diseases, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center
Vaccinations
- Immunization prevents between 2-3 million deaths every year
- Vaccinations have reduced the number of infections from vaccine-preventable diseases by more than 90%!
- Vaccines protect us from more than a dozen diseases such as measles, polio, and tetanus
- Vaccines are available that may help prevent cancer - cervical specifically
- Vaccines DO NOT cause diseases
- Adults need vaccines too – Shingles
- Newer vaccines are available for Rotavirus and Hepatitis A
- Prevnar (pneumococcal dx in kids) and Hemophyllus influenza have been big successes over the last couple of decades in markedly decreasing meningitis and severe infections in babies.
- Measles cases are at a 20 year high.
- Side effects of vaccines
- Getting every newborn vaccinated on schedule helps prevent about 48,000 deaths and 20 million cases of disease, saves nearly $14 billion in direct costs, and saves society $69 billion.