There are two important reasons why we need to vaccinate for rare diseases:source: 1
- Vaccines are the reason many diseases are rare occurrences in the United States. If we stop vaccinating, then these diseases may come back.source: 2
- Diseases can travel. Many countries have not yet had the success the United States has had with vaccinating its children, so these diseases are still common in many parts of the world. When unvaccinated people travel, diseases may travel with them.source: 3
Key Evidence
Polio is a good example of why vaccines are important. Polio used to be one of the most feared diseases in the United States. When the worst outbreak occurred in 1952, nearly 60,000 people in the United States were infected, more than 21,000 were paralyzed, and more than 3,000 died.source: 4,source: 5
- Due to vaccines, the United States had eliminated polio by 1979.source: 5
- But due to low vaccination rates in some communities, polio returned to the United States in 2022.source: 6
- Thanks to a successful vaccination program, most people in the United States are protected from polio.source: 7
- However, people who are not vaccinated or who haven’t received all recommended doses may be at risk of getting polio. The disease still occurs in other parts of the world. It only takes one person with polio traveling from another country to bring polio into the United States.source: 7
Now a once rare disease can be a risk to children who are not vaccinated.
A Deeper Dive: Why we will always need to vaccinate for some diseases
Some diseases can be eradicated (wiped off the face of the earth) thanks to vaccines. But others might not ever be eradicated. That means we will always have to vaccinate against them. The reason has a lot to do with how a disease spreads.
Smallpox is the only human disease that we have been able to eradicate so far. We were able to eradicate it by 1980 thanks to vaccination and because it only spread among humans.source: 8,source: 9 We have come close to eradicating polio through vaccination.source: 10 But we are not there yet. One of the biggest reasons is because of misinformation that discourages vaccination persists in certain parts of the world.source: 11
Some diseases will be harder or impossible to eradicate. For example, the germ that causes tetanus is found in soil.source: 12 There is no way we can ensure that every patch of soil in the world is free of tetanus. So we will always need to get a tetanus vaccine. Flu is a disease we see every year. The virus that causes the flu is constantly changing, and people can get infected with some flu viruses from animals.source: 13,source: 14,source: 15
More information
- Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Why we will always need vaccinations
- History of Vaccines: Vaccination for Rare Diseases
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: 2022 NY Polio Case: Why and What Does It Mean?
Still have questions? Talk to your child’s doctor, nurse, or pharmacist.
Sources
- CDC: About Vaccines for your Children
- FDA: Vaccines Protect Children From Harmful Infectious Diseases
- FDA: Vaccines for Children – A Guide for Parents and Caregivers
- History of Vaccines: The History of the Polio Vaccine
- CDC: Pink Book: Poliomyelitis
- CDC: United States confirmed as country with circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus
- CDC: About Polio in the United States
- CDC: How Smallpox Spreads
- CDC: History of Smallpox
- CDC: About Global Polio Eradication
- Harvard International Review: Polio in a Post-Vaccine World: The Consequences of Anti-Vaccination Sentiments
- CDC: Tetanus: Causes and How It Spreads
- CDC: About Influenza A in Animals
- Duke Global Health Institute: Why Seasonal Flu Evolves Faster Than We Can Fight It
- FDA: It’s a Good Time to Get Your Flu Vaccine
Disclaimer Policy: Links with this icon () mean that you are leaving the HHS website.
Disclaimer Policy: Links with this icon () mean that you are leaving the HHS website.
- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cannot guarantee the accuracy of a non-federal website.
- Linking to a non-federal website does not mean that HHS or its employees endorse the sponsors, information, or products presented on the website. HHS links outside of itself to provide you with further information.
- You will be bound by the destination website's privacy policy and/or terms of service when you follow the link.
- HHS is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on private websites.
- For more information on HHS's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.