Are vaccines an effective tool to prevent disease?

I'll search the latest evidence on how well vaccines prevent disease.

Yes, vaccines are considered one of the most effective tools to prevent disease.

> Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to prevent diseases. Over the past 50 years, essential vaccines against just 14 diseases have saved at least 154 million lives

How they work and scope:

•Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with your body’s natural defenses to build protection. When you get a vaccine, your immune system responds.

•We now have vaccines to prevent more than 30 life-threatening diseases and infections, helping people of all ages live longer, healthier lives.

Measured impact on deaths, illness and mortality:

•Immunization currently prevents 3.5 million to 5 million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), influenza and measles.

•A study published in The Lancet, the landmark 2024 WHO study, modeled five decades of the Expanded Programme on Immunization and found that vaccination against 14 key pathogens has saved an estimated 154 million lives worldwide since 1974.

•Research shows that routine vaccinations for children born during 1994–2023 will have prevented about 508 million illnesses and 32 million hospitalizations and saved over 1.1 million lives.

Cost-effectiveness and disease incidence:

•Vaccines are among the most cost-effective ways to protect against infectious diseases.

•The introduction of a vaccine has, in many cases, led to a very large decrease in the incidence of the targeted disease — such as the 96% decrease in the incidence of polio that occurred within 7 years of the introduction of the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines.

Historical achievements:

•Vaccines are considered one of the greatest medical achievements. They have eradicated smallpox and reduced global child mortality and long-term disabilities from vaccine-preventable diseases.

•Most recently, COVID-19 vaccines sped up the end of the most serious global pandemic since 1918. A study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases estimates that the vaccine saved nearly 20 million lives worldwide in its first year.

Vaccines are also described as critical to the prevention and control of infectious disease outbreaks. They underpin global health security and are a vital tool in the battle against antimicrobial resistance.

No prevention method is 100% effective for every individual, and effectiveness varies by vaccine, disease, and population, but at individual and population levels vaccines prevent infection, severe disease, hospitalization and death, and contribute to herd immunity. Continuous monitoring ensures they are very safe and effective before and after approval.

Citations (4)

1who.intGovernment
Vaccines and immunization: Vaccine safety
Backs: “Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to prevent diseases. Over the past 50 years, essential vaccines against just 14 diseases have saved at least 154 million lives”
2who.intGovernment
Know the facts
Backs: “Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with your body’s natural defenses to build protection.”
3who.intGovernment
Vaccines and immunization
Backs: “We now have vaccines to prevent more than 30 life-threatening diseases and infections, helping people of all ages live longer, healthier lives. Measured impact on deaths, illness and mortality: Immunization currently prevents 3.5 million to 5 million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis…”
4cdc.govGovernment
Vaccines and the Diseases they Prevent
Backs: “A study published in The Lancet, the landmark 2024 WHO study, modeled five decades of the Expanded Programme on Immunization and found that vaccination against 14 key pathogens has saved an estimated 154 million lives worldwide since 1974. Research shows that routine vaccinations for children born during 1994–2023…”