In 1952, close to 60,000 individuals in the US contracted paralytic polio. That number is now zero. And this is not a unique statistic; the morbidity associated with many one-time ubiquitous diseases — smallpox, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella — has decreased 99 percent or more for each. These remarkable successes, which provide a definitive answer to any question about the importance of vaccines, are largely due to the comprehensive US childhood immunization strategy.
The next imperative is to create a similarly comprehensive strategy for adult immunization to address the fact that the majority of vaccine-preventable deaths in the US today occur in adults. Healthcare providers can and will need to play a pivotal role in these efforts. NFID has developed professional resources including comprehensive information about vaccine-preventable diseases, the latest immunization schedule from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a series of professional practice toolkits that contain materials to help improve adult vaccination rates and promote patient education among adults.