Immunization Campaigns

Immunization campaigns are designed to increase awareness and encourage the general public to vaccinate, both adults and children, depending on the illness, as a measure of maintaining public health and preventing otherwise unnecessary illness. Campaigns are designed to encourage education and protect the medical profession by sharing information that will explain benefits of vaccination within the larger public sphere. The medical profession considers immunization awareness an ethical obligation, so patients are aware of protections against preventable diseases.

Vaccination was endorsed in Europe and the United States in the early 19th century. Immunization campaigns first came about as a result of a smallpox outbreak in the United States in the late 19th century. Mass campaigns occurred in the mid-20th century. Since then, most large-scale vaccination campaigns have been found to be very effective, helping eradicate smallpox and nearly eradicate polio. In 1988, the vaccine to prevent Haemophilius influenzae, a major cause of bacterial meningitis, decreased occurance of the disease by more than 99 percent. Full vaccination in children in the United States saves thousands of lives and prevents well over 10 million infections.

While there is widespread support of immunization, antivaccination campaigns have countered efforts to encourage immunization. Opponents of vaccination argue that the drop in infections result from improved sanitation and hygienic education or that the natural decline of these diseases are incidental, with studies attempting to prove immunization effectiveness. Another argument suggests vaccines are temporary and require boosters, while those who survive disease become permanently immune. While most parents understand children benefit from early vaccination, often lack of information, including risk assessments, perceptions that diseases children are vaccinated against initially have changed, challenges negotiating complicated immunization schedules for infants and young children, and exposure to anti-vaccine movements that are not countered with pro-vaccine information impact parents’ perceptions of immunization, leading to fear, confusion, and large numbers of under-immunized children. This is complicated by herd immunity, a form of immunity occurring when vaccinated populations provide some protection for individuals who have not developed immunity. This leads to skepticism and mistrust of the pharmaceutical industry as well as governmental legislation requiring immunization. This tension makes it difficult for pediatricians to vaccinate as they see fit. Such risks are very personal, and risks of what might happen as a result of vaccination overshadow risks of developing very serious, and mostly preventable, diseases. An example of how anti-vaccine and vaccine campaigns work from both sides of an issue resulted from a 1998 Lancet article reporting autism as a possible side effect of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Studies since then have no conclusive findings linking autism to MMR immunization in young children.

Immunizations for common preventable illnesses, such as measles, mumps, and rubella, for instance, are not the only types of vaccines offered to children. Each year, there are flu shots available to adults that work to prevent or lessen symptoms of the influenza virus and the pneumonia shot, designed to protect against common bacterial pneumonias. The outbreak of swine flu, or H1N1 virus, in 2009 led to a vaccine that treated a specific strain of influenza, which proved severe for children and adults alike. Giving evidence of public sentiment about vaccination at the time, the Pew Research Center reported in its survey of more than 1,000 adults that 47 percent would not get the voluntary H1N1 immunization. The government's response to H1N1 was critiqued for not matching the reality of the situation, arguably because the flu was not as lethal as it originally appeared. However, death is not the only reason to vaccinate; swine flu was highly contagious and problematic in schools and workplaces.

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