Facts About Vaccine-Preventable Diseases

Vaccines are without question among the greatest public health achievements of the 20th and 21st centuries. They have greatly reduced the incidence of infectious diseases that once caused widespread illness, disability, and death around the world.

As a result of vaccines, a few diseases have even been eliminated (meaning reduced to zero in a specific geographic area). Meanwhile, one disease (smallpox) has been eradicated (meaning reduced to zero worldwide).

Even so, vigilance is needed to ensure that enough children are vaccinated to avoid the resurgence of eliminated diseases (such as outbreaks of measles in the United States). Adults also need boosters to retain the benefits of certain vaccines.

Continued research and innovation are also needed to protect against new and emerging diseases, such as was experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic.

List of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases

Not all infectious diseases can be prevented with vaccines. Even so, there are a growing number of vaccines being developed to either prevent new diseases (like COVID-19) or offer better protection than some of the older vaccines.

Some of these are given on a vaccine schedule recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent panel of experts within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Others are used for special circumstances, such as to protect against tropical diseases when traveling abroad.

Today, there are 32 different infectious diseases vaccines can protect against:

• Adenovirus type 4 and 7
• Anthrax
• Cholera
• COVID-19
• Dengue fever
• Diphtheria
• Ebola virus
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) 
• Hepatitis A 
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis E
• Herpes zoster virus (shingles)
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)
• Influenza (flu)
• Japanese encephalitis
• Malaria
• Measles 
• Meningococcal disease
• Mumps 
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• Plague
• Pneumococcal disease
• Polio
• Rabies
• Rotavirus 
• Rubella (German measles)
• Tetanus
• Tick-borne encephalitis
• Tuberculosis
• Typhoid fever
• Varicella-zoster virus (chickenpox) 
• Yellow fever

List of FDA-Approved Vaccines

Some vaccines are given on their own. Others are used in combination to reduce the number of vaccinations a child or adult needs to receive.

For example, measles, mumps, and rubella are almost always vaccinated against by using an MMR vaccine as opposed to individual vaccines for each disease. The same applies to diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis for which the DTaP vaccine is used for primary vaccination; the Td and Tdap vaccines are used for boosters.

There are more than 70 different vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

There are vaccines for hepatitis E, malaria, and tick-borne encephalitis used in other countries, none of which have been approved by the FDA due to their poor efficacy.

Disease Prevention in Children

Vaccination schedules, also known as immunization schedules, are used to ensure that individuals are protected from infections at appropriate times in their lives.

If enough of the population is immunized, herd immunity can build, reducing the rate of infection within the larger community.

While all of the vaccines on the U.S. immunization schedule are ACIP-recommended, they aren't necessarily mandated in all states. For example, the MMR vaccine used to prevent measles, mumps, and rubella is mandated in all 50 states, but the HPV vaccine is mandated in only three states.

Moreover, depending on the state, the mandating body may be the state legislature, the state Department of Health, or even an individual school district.

Currently, the childhood vaccination schedule in the United States protects against 16 infectious diseases. The vaccinations start at birth and may continue right up to one's 18th birthday. They are (in the order in which they are given):

• Hepatitis B
• Diphtheria
• Tetanus
• Pertussis
• Hib
• Pneumococcal disease
• Polio
• Influenza
• Measles
• Mumps
• Rotavirus
• Rubella
• Varicella
• Hepatitis A
• HPV
• Meningococcal disease

The vaccines are each given in a series of scheduled doses to afford long-lasting immune protection.

In some cases, booster shots are needed during adolescence or adulthood to prolong immunity. In other instances, additional doses or vaccines may be prescribed to protect those at increased risk (such as immunocompromised people).

Disease Prevention in Adults

Children aren't the only ones who need routine vaccination. There are certain infectious diseases that are more common in adults and/or more likely to cause severe illnesses or death.

There are three reasons why vaccines are needed in adults:

• Not all vaccines protect you forever. While some like the HPV vaccine deliver what is considered to be life-long protection, other diseases require booster doses to maintain immunity.
• Not all adults are up-to-date on their vaccines. Those who have not been vaccinated during childhood may need to "catch up" to avoid getting a disease later in life. This includes adults through age 26 who have not gotten the HPV vaccine, as well as adults born in 1980 or later who have not been vaccinated against chickenpox and have no evidence of prior infection.
• Certain adults are at increased risk. Some adults require vaccines that others don't. This includes pregnant women, in whom pertussis can cause fetal death, and healthcare workers, who not only risk illness but the spread of infection to patients.

The ACIP recommends routine vaccination to prevent the following diseases in all adults:

• Influenza (annually)
• Tetanus (every 10 years as part of the Td vaccine)
• Diphtheria (every 10 years as part of the Td vaccine)
• Pertussis (once, replacing a Td dose with a dose of the Tdap vaccine)
• Herpes-zoster virus (at age 50 and over)
• Pneumococcal disease (at age 65 and over)

A Word From Verywell

As vital as vaccines are to preventing potentially serious illnesses, they only work if you use them. Without exception, the benefits of the vaccines approved by the FDA and ACIP outweigh any potential risks.

There may be side effects (occasionally serious), and some people may not be able to get certain vaccines for health reasons (such as allergy or immunodeficiency). Even so, by getting vaccinated on the schedule recommended by the ACIP, you not only protect yourself or your child from disease but prevent the spread of infection within your community.

Vaccines Doctor Discussion Guide

Get our printable guide for your next doctor's appointment to help you ask the right questions.

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