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Vaccine Educational Materials

The Vaccine Education Center provides informational materials in both English and Spanish.

Feature Articles Archive

Whooping Cough Update

The number of people being diagnosed with whooping cough (pertussis) has continued to rise since news of an outbreak was first announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in July 2012.

Some information about current cases

Some information about whooping cough

Preventing whooping cough

The best way to prevent whooping cough is to be vaccinated:

Additional information

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Fighting Polio in Pakistan

Polio: the disease

Polio is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by a virus that spreads when food or water is contaminated with feces. Polio causes a wide range of symptoms, but 90 of 100 people typically experience no symptoms. Because this group is still contagious, they unknowingly spread the virus. Mild symptoms typically occur in 6 of 100 people infected with polio virus and are similar to those of other viral infections (e.g., sore throat, fever and nausea). Severe symptoms are less common, affecting about 1 of 100 people, and can include muscle aches, spasms and paralysis.

Polio: the vaccine

Before the first polio vaccine was made in 1955, polio paralyzed about 15,000 children and caused the deaths of about 1,000 children every year in the United States.

Jonas Salk created the first polio vaccine, commonly known as the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). Another polio vaccine was made in 1961 by Albert Sabin. Both polio vaccines contained three types of polio virus; however Salk’s vaccine used inactivated or killed polio virus whereas Sabin’s was a live viral vaccine made by weakening polio virus in laboratory cells.

The polio vaccine program has been very successful and has led to the eradication of polio in the United States and other countries. However, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan have never stopped transmission of the virus.

Polio in Pakistan

Eradication efforts began in 1994, causing a decrease in the number of people getting polio in Pakistan. However, that number began to climb in 2008, and by 2011, Pakistan was considered the “global epicenter” of polio, with more cases of polio than any other country in the world. The increase in the number of people with polio in Pakistan also led to a large polio outbreak in China. Experts attribute the rise in polio cases in Pakistan to many factors, including:

Recently, reinvigorated polio eradication efforts have focused on the mobile subgroups of the Pakistani population. Transit posts offering polio vaccinations have been set up at popular entrances and exits to problem areas. During a 16-day period between April and May of 2012, about 14,000 children were given the polio vaccine.

Public health officials around the world are concerned about the situation in Pakistan because without success there, the opportunity to eradicate polio from the world may be lost.

Read more about polio and the polio vaccine» 

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Back to school: Is the child sitting next to yours immunized?

The start of another school year is right around the corner. By now, the school nurse may have sent a reminder about vaccinations. Even if you didn’t get a reminder, it is a good time to make sure your child is up to date on immunizations.

Unfortunately, some parents are choosing to “opt out” of vaccines for their children because of their own beliefs about the need for and safety of vaccines. In fact, these decisions, often referred to as personal belief exemptions, have been traced to recent cases of pertussis, measles and mumps in several states. Currently, 20 states allow personal belief exemptions.

Many people do not realize that these choices put not only their own children at risk, but also those around them because the more people in a community who are immune to a disease, the lower the chance that the disease will spread throughout the community. This is called herd immunity. So, even those who may not be immune will have a decreased chance of getting the disease.

Herd immunity is particularly important for protecting:

The risks associated with personal belief exemptions are too dangerous to take lightly. You may have chosen to get your child vaccinated, but have other parents in your child’s class done the same? And if they haven’t, will you find out when vaccine-preventable diseases start making their way through your child’s classroom?

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HPV testing: What you should know

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually-transmitted disease in the world. Even though a vaccine is available to prevent infection with some types of HPV, it’s important to realize that the vaccine does not prevent all types of HPV, so testing is still important.

HPV Biology

HPV is spread through genital contact, most often, but not always, during sex. There are about 100 different types of HPV, and infections occur in both men and women. HPV infections can cause genital warts or cancers of the cervix or other reproductive organs; however, the types that cause genital warts are not the same ones that cause cancer.

Most people with a HPV infection do not experience any symptoms, and their immune systems clear it without them ever knowing they were infected. However, others remain infected for an extended period of time, and it is in these people that cancers can develop, often about 20 to 25 years after the initial infection.

Getting tested

Men

HPV tests for men are not available, and most HPV infections clear on their own without causing problems. However, health problems caused by HPV, which can include genital warts, anal cancer, penile cancer or cancers of the oropharynx, can be checked by visiting your doctor.

Learn more about HPV and men»

Women

Women can get HPV tests and/or Pap tests to determine whether they have an HPV infection that can lead to cancer. Both tests detect early health problems that can lead to cervical cancer, but neither checks for warning signs of other cancers, fertility or other STDs. Although both tests have a common goal, they do have their differences:

Pap Test (Pap Smear)
HPV Test

If both tests are normal, it is highly unlikely that serious cervical cell changes will develop in the next three years; however, regular wellness visits should not be skipped.

If either test is abnormal, more testing will be completed. Abnormal results do not mean that you have cervical cancer, but that cells in your cervix could eventually become cancerous. However, finding the abnormal cells early allows for more successful treatment.

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Neglected tropical diseases

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of infectious diseases that affect the world’s poorest people in developing countries. NTDs are called “neglected” because they have traditionally received relatively little attention from global governments and health organizations.

What are NTDs?

More than 1 billion people suffer from one or more NTDs. This group includes more than 500 million children in the developing world who are infected with one or more of the seven most common NTDs:

Burdening the world’s poorest

NTDs thrive in places with: 

Although these diseases are transmitted in different ways and cause different symptoms, people are often infected with more than one at a time. Communities with many members affected by one or more of these diseases have problems associated with: 

As a result, NTDs contribute to a cycle of poverty that traps the world’s poorest individuals and stifles economic growth in developing countries.

Progress and advances

An improved understanding of the relationship between NTDs and extreme poverty has led to increased attention from global and national organizations in recent years. Inexpensive, safe and effective drugs are now available to treat each of the seven most common NTDs. Current efforts to control or eliminate these diseases include: 

Vaccines are not currently available to prevent any of the NTDs, but efforts are being made to develop safe and inexpensive vaccines for some of these diseases.

Learn more

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In memory of Kaliah - a personal story about whooping cough

By: Chelsey Charles

When I first held Kaliah, my entire life changed in that moment. Kaliah was everything I hoped for, and she was even more perfect than I could have imagined. Gazing at me with her big brown bright eyes as I touched her thick brown hair, I couldn’t put her down — she was absolutely gorgeous.

Shortly after I delivered Kaliah, the doctor noticed I had a slight cough. She asked me how long I had had it, I responded with “about a week.” That night my cough started to get worse; still, nobody seemed too concerned about it. The doctors thought it was probably because I was tired, because I used all my energy in labor. I was asked if I wanted to get vaccinated for whooping cough before I left the hospital and I said yes. Since I hadn’t gotten it in five years, I needed the vaccination for school, but the doctors wanted to wait till after I gave birth. They gave me the shot the next day and sent my perfect little family and me home.

Read the full story»

Editor’s Note: The Vaccine Education Center would like to thank Chelsey for sharing her story, to help others understand the devastation that can be caused by infection with pertussis. Learn more about the Tdap vaccine and the diseases it prevents or read other personal stories of families affected by vaccine-preventable diseases.

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In Josh's Name: A Personal Story About Chickenpox

By: Bev Connelly

Josh was your typical 12-year-old. He had lots of friends in the 7th grade. He played football and baseball, and he was a Boy Scout. He liked joking around with his friends. He played hard when he played sports; he was competitive, for sure. He rarely complained, and he loved to laugh.

But our world changed forever on April 13, 1996, when Josh died suddenly from chickenpox. I couldn’t believe that chickenpox could be that severe. I was one of seven kids, and we had all had chickenpox as children, and we knew lots of other people who had it too. No one had ever died.

Read the full story»

Editor’s note: The Vaccine Education Center would like to thank Bev for sharing her story, so that others can understand the devastation that can be caused by infection with chickenpox. Learn more about chickenpox and the vaccine and read other personal stories of families affected by vaccine-preventable diseases.

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Adult Vaccination Coverage

Adults are 100 times more likely than children to die of vaccine-preventable diseases. Each year in the United States, vaccine-preventable diseases claim the lives of 500 children and approximately 50,000 adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported adult vaccination coverage in the United States during 2010. The data indicated minimal improvement in the numbers of adults receiving recommended vaccines and concluded that significant increases in adult vaccination coverage are needed to reduce the prevalence of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Most adults do not realize they need to get vaccines; but adults still need vaccines for several reasons:

While some vaccines, such as influenza and tetanus-diphtheria (Td) or Tdap, are recommended for all adults, others including vaccines for varicella (chickenpox), hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella, and pneumococcus are recommended depending upon prior disease or vaccination, age, medical condition, occupation and travel. Check with your healthcare provider to ensure that you are up to date on recommended vaccines.

Learn more about vaccines for adults»

Special vaccine considerations for adults

This month’s "Spotlight" features special vaccine considerations for the following groups of adults:

While the influenza vaccine is also made in eggs, advances in technology have made the remaining quantities of egg proteins so minimal that most people with egg allergies can now safely get the vaccine. However, people with a known egg allergy are recommended to remain in the provider’s office for about 30 minutes after getting the influenza vaccine in case any reaction occurs.

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Childhood vaccine coverage in Botswana, Africa

Maura Murphy, MPH, Global Health Program Manager at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Botswana is a country of remarkable natural beauty, political stability and economic prosperity. Located in southern Africa and about the size of Texas, Botswana has a population of about 2 million people. Since its independence in 1966, Botswana has made investing in health, including childhood immunizations, a priority. Although it has one of the region’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS, it boasts one of the most comprehensive national responses to the disease, and the rates of new infections have decreased dramatically over the past few years. In Botswana, routine pediatric vaccination rates are very high; in fact, national immunization rates surpass many of the World Health Organization’s goals.

Karata

In health posts and clinics all across the delta and rolling plains of Botswana, mothers can be found holding their child’s personal health record in their hand. Called the karata, which means “Under-5 card” in Setswana, the local language of Botswana, these cards are given to children at birth and contain valuable health information, including their growth charts and vaccine history. Many mothers store the cards in plastic or decorate them with stickers, highlighting the importance of these “traveling medical records.”

These are especially important because, although health centers have records of all of their patients, sometimes they are not readily available when a child visits a clinic, and oftentimes children visit different clinics. The karata travels with children as they grow; and, in fact, many adults also carry their own karata tucked into their current health record, so their medical history is always at hand.

Herd immunity and HIV/AIDS

Pediatric immunizations are an important part of the health strategy for the Botswana Ministry of Health, the governing body of public healthcare in the country. In fact, vaccines are provided free of charge to all children through the public sector at health posts throughout the country. Typically, children get their vaccinations at a local clinic, such as a rural outpost or larger community clinics.

Ensuring that all children are vaccinated becomes more important with the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the general and pediatric populations. According to Elizabeth Lowenthal, MD, a CHOP pediatrician and HIV specialist who spent years living and working in Botswana: “The high prevalence of HIV in countries such as Botswana makes herd immunity for vaccine-preventable diseases of particular importance since sometimes children with HIV won’t mount sufficient immunity from vaccinations, particularly if they are given before the child’s HIV is well-controlled.” Herd immunity refers to the concept that a disease cannot spread as easily throughout a community in which most people have been immunized against it, therefore, protecting individuals who have not developed immunity, especially children and those with weakened immunity, such as people suffering from HIV and AIDS.

More vaccines in Botswana

Because diarrhea and pneumonia are very common in the pediatric population, the Ministry of Health in Botswana hopes to introduce the rotavirus and pneumococcal vaccines into their immunization program. Clinicians in Botswana are excited about these additional ways to keep their patients healthy. According to Matt Kelly, MD, the CHOP David N. Pincus Global Health Fellow who currently lives and works in Botswana, "Pneumonia and diarrheal illnesses are the most common reasons for children in Botswana to be admitted to the hospital. The addition of pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines to the national immunization schedule will undoubtedly save lives and improve the health of children throughout the country."

As health officials in Botswana continue to focus on improving the health of their citizens, progress against HIV/AIDS and vaccine-preventable diseases is likely to remain among their top priorities.

To learn more about pediatric vaccines in the developing world, visit the UNICEF immunization website.

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Cervical Health and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine

In addition to being the start of a new year, January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. As such, it is a great opportunity to think about issues related to cervical cancer, HPV disease and the importance of prevention and early detection, especially as they relate to the HPV vaccine.

Pap testing and cervical health

At one time cervical cancer was the most common cause of cancer in the United States. One test changed that: the Papanicolaou (Pap) test. The Pap test is performed by scraping cells from the opening of the cervix and examining them under the microscope to see whether they show changes consistent with the early development of cancer (called pre-cancerous changes). Typically, the length of time from infection with HPV to development of cervical cancer is about 15-20 years. For this reason, although most HPV infections occur in teenagers and young adults, cervical cancer is more common in women in their 40s and 50s.

The Pap test is one of the most effective cancer-screening tests available and has dramatically reduced the incidence of cervical cancer in the United States. But the test isn't perfect and not all women get tested as often as they should. Thus, women cannot avoid cervical cancer by simply getting routine Pap testing.

HPV vaccine

Cervical cancer is unique in that it has only one cause: HPV. Typically, HPV infects the skin and causes warts. Although unsightly and emotionally crippling, warts are not harmful. But sometimes HPV infects the genital area, including the lining of the cervix. When HPV infects the cervix, it can cause cervical cancer.

The HPV vaccine reduces or prevents the risk of contracting HPV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all adolescents between 11 and 12 years of age receive the HPV vaccine. The vaccine can be given to girls as young as 9 years of age and is also recommended for all teenage and adult women between 13 and 26 years of age.

After HPV vaccination

Women who get the HPV vaccine still need to get Pap tests because the HPV vaccine prevents only about 7 of every 10 cases of cervical cancer.

In addition, women who have received the HPV vaccine still need to worry about other sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and herpes virus. Further, the HPV vaccine doesn't prevent all types of HPV. Vaccinated women should still practice safe sexual behaviors (abstinence, monogamy or limiting the number of sexual partners, and condom use).

To learn more about cervical cancer and the vaccine:

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