innovation.org - April-Vaccines

April-Vaccines
April 25th – May 2nd is National Infant Immunization Week

Most vaccines work by tricking the immune system into thinking that a real infection is taking place, even though it is not. Then when the person is exposed to that illness again, the immune system is already activated and ready to fend it off. Many diseases once considered devastating to the world’s population, such as polio, smallpox, and influenza, are now rare and easily preventable because of vaccines. In addition, researchers are also developing therapeutic vaccines for diseases such as HIV and cancer. These vaccines are for people already living with a particular condition and are intended to strengthen the immune system in an effort to ameliorate symptoms or halt progression.

Recognizing the impact that vaccines have on such a large portion of the population, especially on children, Innovation.org highlights important and groundbreaking research into new vaccines. Click on the links below to read more about vaccine research.


Newsletter: The Impact and Future of Vaccines
A 2008 study conducted by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that cases of vaccine-preventable diseases have reached an all-time low in the U.S. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that for nine of fourteen diseases studied, hospitalizations and deaths fell over 90%. Those nine diseases include diphtheria, measles, poliomyelitis, rubella, congenital rubella syndrome, small pox, mumps, tetanus, and Hib disease. For the remaining four diseases—hepatitis A and B, pneumococcal disease, and varicella—hospitalizations and deaths declined less than 90%, but this is largely attributable to the fact that these vaccines are relatively new. Read the full Newsletter


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innovation.org - April-Vaccines