Infectious Diseases In America

The history of infectious diseases in America predates the establishment of the United States. Colonial children were afflicted by many epidemic contagious diseases, and a number of very graphic descriptions have been recorded.1 As research and medical advances have increased, more vaccinations have been developed to prevent and eliminate some of these once deadly diseases. The pace of progress regarding infectious diseases of children accelerated during the 18th Century, particularly with respect to prevention of smallpox by inoculation or variolation. Smallpox was an almost inevitable illness of childhood and was one of the most common causes of death because of its high mortality rate. It was reported, for example, to kill 10% of Swedish

For example, for the first three decades of the 19th Century, the severity of scarlet fever was less than observed previously but then around 1830 increased dramatically. By 1840 scarlet fever had become the leading cause of death among the infectious diseases of childhood in the U.S., Great Britain, and Europe.1 By the mid-1900's, many organizations were developed to monitor and conduct research on certain diseases that could be prevented with a vaccination. Through these organizations, vaccinations were developed and rolled out to the public as a preventative measure to prevent the spread of these diseases. Utilizing these advancements in medicine, a majority of the once known infectious diseases such as scarlet fever, tuberculosis, and pneumonia that caused death, were slowing down. As of today, vaccine-preventable disease levels are at or near record lows. Even though most infants and toddlers have received all recommended vaccines by age two, many under-immunized children remain, leaving the potential for outbreaks of the

Beyond preventing more than 100 million cases of illness and averting 3.7 million deaths in young children over the next ten years, immunizing children with three crucial vaccines against pneumonia, diarrhea and meningitis would hold major economic benefits for both families and governments. Averting short term costs of disease treatment saves $1.4 billion and avoiding the lost wages of caretakers saves $313 million while averting the long term economic costs of lost productivity due to disability and death may add savings of $61 billion to these economies in the long term. The ability to avert 3.7 million deaths by using pneumococcal, Hib and rotavirus vaccines has an estimated value of $115 billion for those in at-risk