In 1999, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) named childhood vaccination as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century, highlighting dramatic declines in deaths across a range of vaccine-preventable diseases. That progress has continued into the 21st century, with more than 90 percent of children fully vaccinated against conditions such as polio, measles, mumps, rubella, Hepatitis B and chickenpox.
Adult vaccination, however, is a far different story. Each year in the United States, between 50,000-90,000 adults die from vaccine-preventable conditions. Adult vaccination rates for a range of conditions are suboptimal, and the consequences in terms of lives lost and healthcare costs are severe.
The above is an excerpt of a piece originally published in The Hill.
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