Vaccines Prevent 100M Diseases

Sorry, Jenny McCarthy. According to a new study in The New England Journal of Medicine, vaccines have prevented more than 100 million cases of serious contagious diseases in the U.S. since 1924. Using millions of public health reports—released before and after vaccines for the diseases were commercially available—researchers were able to project the number of cases of polio, measles, rubella, mumps, hepatitis A, diphtheria, and pertussis that would have occurred, if not for the life-saving advances. The study's authors hope that the findings will have an effect on the current vaccine debate. “If you’re anti-vaccine, that’s the price you pay," said Dr. Donald Burke, the dean of Pittsburgh’s graduate school.