How Vaccination Protects Against Infectious and Chronic Diseases

When you or someone you love is sick with an infectious disease, you question how it was contracted, how long it takes to resolve, and how it could have been prevented.

Fortunately, many infectious diseases are self-limited, meaning they run a fairly predictable course and resolve with or without intervention. These include the common cold, influenza, gastroenteritis, and infectious mononucleosis.

But sometimes infections can cause severe complications or become prolonged illnesses that threaten life or cause long-term disability. We experienced this with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, causing millions to be hospitalized and die.

Under the current administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, directed by Secretary Kennedy, prioritizes chronic diseases. And it should. According to the CDC, the leading causes of death in the United States are chronic illnesses and unintentional injuries.

But some chronic conditions start with an infection, such as cancers(due to HPV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and chronic liver disease. And researchers expect to find more.

As the list of chronic diseases associated with long-term viral infection grows, experimental models suggest that chronic virus infection contributes to certain cancers, as well as to diabetes and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). 

Emory University

That’s why I’m sharing advice from Dr. Anthony Fauci, who you probably remember from the COVID-19 pandemic. Long before that virus, he spent years working on the prevention and treatment of other serious viral diseases, including HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and SARS.

In this article published on the NIH website five years ago, Dr. Fauci explained the value of vaccination in preventing infections and his concern about widespread distrust in vaccine science.

December 4, 2019

Building Trust in Vaccines

By Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., (Former) Director,

NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Vaccine research reduces disease.

As the director of NIAID, I oversee biomedical research on novel and improved vaccines for infectious diseases- dengue, tuberculosis, malaria, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and HIV.

Daily, scientists are advancing research on vaccine technologies that we hope will reduce disease and save lives. Daily, misinformation is threatening to erode the public’s trust in vaccines.

As communicators, we must remind people that vaccination remains one of the best ways to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities from serious infectious diseases. 

Vaccine side effects are extremely rare.

The benefits of getting vaccinated outweigh the risks. But, with so many vaccine myths spreading online, some people are confused.

People often ask me why they need to get vaccinated against diseases they have never seen. For example, only five cases of diphtheria have been reported in the past decade.

I explain that decades of widespread vaccination are precisely why certain infectious diseases are so uncommon in the U.S(link is external).

The more people who get vaccinated, the harder it is for an infectious disease to spread. This is what scientists call  herd immunity.

Unfortunately, successful immunization programs may have diminished our sense of urgency to get vaccinated. People are less concerned about diseases such as polio or measles because most have not seen these debilitating illnesses.

Measles re-emerges when vaccination lags

Yet, recent outbreaks of measles in the U.S. illustrate how gaps in vaccination coverage can allow a highly contagious respiratory disease to spread quickly.

Thanks to widespread immunization, measles has not been endemic (constantly present) in the U.S. for more than 20 years. However, measles exists in other countries, and can come to the U.S. by travelers and then spread to unimmunized people.

It can be helpful to think of vaccines like seatbelts. Although we do not expect to be in an accident every time we drive a car, we still buckle up and strap our children in car seats.

Even though some vaccine-preventable diseases are uncommon in the U.S., it is important to continue recommended immunizations. The recent resurgence of measles is a tragic reminder of what happens when people decide not to vaccinate.

Effective vaccination programs can completely eradicate certain diseases. 

Smallpox, which killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20^th century alone, was eradicated in 1980 thanks to an unprecedented immunization campaign that remains one of the world’s greatest public health achievements.

Influenza vaccine’s importance

Recently, I shared my flu shot experience to encourage people to get immunized (October 16, 2019)

As a public health official, I feel obliged to use every opportunity I have to emphasize the value of vaccination and dispel myths about vaccines. As I emphasize in the video, it is misguided on both a personal and community level to skip getting a flu shot.

Influenza can be a very serious illness. Even young, otherwise healthy people who become ill with influenza feel terrible and may miss days of work or school.

Some may even need to be hospitalized. According to the CDC, during the 2017-2018 influenza season, influenza caused an estimated 959,000 hospitalizations and 79,400 deaths in the U.S..

Studies show that flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick and can reduce your risk of flu-associated hospitalization should you become infected(link is external).

Not getting vaccinated also increases the risk of infection to vulnerable individuals in the community. We share a responsibility to protect not just ourselves, but our community from influenza.

Babies under six months of age and people with certain health conditions who cannot be vaccinated are better protected from influenza when the community has widespread vaccination coverage, thus reducing influenza transmission.

Vaccine safety testing

As we research new vaccine technologies, it is important to clearly explain the rigorous process by which vaccines are tested).

Vaccine candidates are first examined in the laboratory and advance to clinical trials only if they are safe in animals. In early-stage clinical trials, researchers test if the vaccine is safe and causes an immune response.

Then, they test the vaccine in large groups to see if it effectively prevents disease. Before granting a license, the FDA evaluates all data to ensure the vaccine’s benefits outweigh any potential side effects.

Additional measures are in place to monitor adverse events post-licensure.

As research advances our understanding of how to prevent and treat disease, we must continue to identify ways to increase the public’s trust in vaccines.

Vaccines can save lives, but only if people trust that they are safe and effective.

Republished from the NIH website, which is in the public domain. Edits done for clarity and length.

Post Images

I took the images in this post during a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, in 2023. The pictures were part of a temporary exhibit, Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World.

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