Disease prevention is the key to public health. It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it. Vaccines prevent disease in the people who receive them and protect those who come into contact with unvaccinated individuals. Vaccines help prevent infectious diseases and save lives. Vaccines are responsible for the control of many infectious diseases that were once common in this country, including polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella (German measles), mumps, tetanus, and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). (Source: CDC)

The most significant public health achievement of the past 100 years has been the reduction in the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases. Nationally, the immunization targets for the following five vaccines were exceeded:

        MMR - measles, mumps and rubella;
        DTP - polio, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; 
        Hib - Haemophilus influenza type B;
        Hep B - hepatitis B

Although immunization rates have been lower in minority populations compared with white populations, minority rates have been increasing at a more rapid rate, thus significantly narrowing the gap.

Ohio Immunization Coverage Rates, 2000-2007

(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Immunization Program, National Immunization Survey, 2000-2007.)