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Vaccines
Vaccines
Timeline |
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1950s-1960s |
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1955 |
Inactivated
polio vaccine licensed. |
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1959 |
World
Health Assembly passes initial resolution calling for global smallpox
eradication. |
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1961 |
Monovalent
oral polio vaccine licensed. |
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1963 |
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Trivalent
oral polio vaccine licensed. |
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The
first measles vaccine licensed. |
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1964 |
Advisory
Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), designed to provide CDC
with recommendations on vaccine use, holds its first meeting. |
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1964-1965 |
20,000
cases of Congenital Rubella Syndrome occurred during the largest rubella
epidemic in the United States. |
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1966 |
U.S.
Measles eradication goal enunciated. |
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1967 |
Mumps
vaccine licensed. |
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1969 |
Rubella
vaccine licensed—57,600 rubella cases reported this year. |
1970s |
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1971 |
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Routine
smallpox vaccination ceases in the United States. |
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Measles,
Mumps, Rubella vaccine licensed. |
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1976 |
Swine
Flu: largest public vaccination program in the United States to date;
halted by association with Guillain-Barré syndrome. |
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1977 |
Last
indigenous case of smallpox (Somalia). |
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1979 |
Last
case of polio, caused by wild virus, acquired in the United States. |
1980s |
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1980 |
Smallpox declared eradicated from the world. |
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1982 |
Hepatitis B vaccine becomes available. |
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1986 |
The
National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act establishes a no-fault compensation
system for those injured by vaccines and requires adverse health events
following specific vaccinations be reported and those injured by vaccines
be compensated. |
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1988 |
Worldwide
Polio Eradication Initiative launched; supported by WHO, UNICEF, Rotary
International, CDC and others. |
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1989-1991 |
Major
resurgence of measles in the United States—55,000 cases compared
with a low of 1,497 cases in 1983. Two-dose measles vaccine (MMR)
is recommended. |
1990s |
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1990 |
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The
Vaccine Adverse Reporting System (VAERS), a national program
monitoring the safety of vaccines established. |
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Haemophilus
influenzae type B (Hib) polysaccharide conjugate vaccine licensed
for infants. |
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1991 |
Hepatitis
B vaccine recommended for all infants. |
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1994 |
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Polio
elimination certified in the Americas. |
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Vaccines
for Children (VFC) program established to provide access to
free vaccines for eligible children at the site of their usual
source of care. |
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1995 |
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First
harmonized childhood immunization schedule endorsed by ACIP,
the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy
of Pediatrics is published. |
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Varicella
vaccine licensed; before the vaccine an estimated 4 million
infected annually in the United States. |
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Hepatitis
A vaccine licensed. |
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1996 |
Acellular
pertussis vaccine licensed for use in young infants. |
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1998 |
First
rotavirus vaccine licensed. |
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1999 |
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Rotavirus
vaccine withdrawn from the market as a result of adverse events. |
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FDA
recommends removing mercury from all products, including vaccines.
Efforts are begun to remove thimerosal, a mercury based additive,
from vaccines. |
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2000s |
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2000 |
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Worldwide
measles initiative launched; 800,000 children still die from
measles annually. Measles declared no longer endemic in the
United States. |
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Pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine recommended for all young children. |
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2001 |
September
11 results in increased concern of bioterrorism. The United States
establishes a plan to re-introduce smallpox vaccine if necessary,
a vaccine thought never to be needed again. |
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2003 |
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Measles
declared no longer endemic in the Americas. |
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First
live attenuated influenza vaccine licensed for use in 5–49
year old persons. |
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First
Adult Immunization Schedule introduced. |
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2004 |
Inactivated influenza vaccine recommended for all children 6–23
months of age. |
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2005 |
Rubella
declared no longer endemic in the United States.
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50
Years of Vaccine Progress |
On
April 12, 1955, the Salk polio vaccine was declared “safe,
effective and potent.” Since that date, great strides have
been made in reducing and eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases
in the United States. Diseases that were once common-place, such
as polio, measles, mumps, diphtheria and rubella, are now only distant
memories for most Americans. Today, there are few reminders of the
suffering, disabilities, and premature deaths caused by diseases
that are now preventable with vaccines.
Measles
was once epidemic in the United States, with more than 55,000 cases
and more than 120 deaths as recently as 1989–1991. Today,
measles is no longer circulating in the United States or anywhere
else in this hemisphere thanks to measles vaccine. Just two decades
ago about 20,000 cases of invasive Hib disease occurred annually.
A physician training in pediatrics today will likely never see a
case of Hib meningitis, formerly the most common form of life-threatening
bacterial meningitis in the United States. This year, rubella is
no longer endemic in the U.S., but in the 1960s, many people witnessed
first-hand the terrible effects of the rubella virus. During an
epidemic between 1964 and 1965, about 20,000 infants were born with
deafness, blindness, heart disease, mental retardation, or other
birth defects because the rubella virus infected their pregnant
mothers.
During
the last 50 years, numerous changes in vaccine production and administration
have resulted in safer vaccines. The Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP) has worked since 1964 to carefully review vaccine
benefits and risks before making vaccine recommendations. The 1986
National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act resulted in a nation-wide
reporting system, the Vaccine Adverse Reporting System, to monitor
reactions to vaccines. The reports to this system were instrumental
in the changing U.S. recommendations from the oral polio vaccine
(OPV) to the injectable polio vaccine (IPV) ultimately eliminating
the occasional health threats caused by the live virus contained
in OPV. Vaccine safety remains a priority among government officials,
health care providers and consumers. Vaccines, which do so much
to minimize the burden of disease, must remain safe and effective.
April
12, 2005 marks the 50th anniversary of the first polio vaccine.
Since the introduction of the vaccine, great strides have been made
in significantly reducing the health impact of vaccine-preventable
diseases among children and adults worldwide. Smallpox has been
eradicated worldwide. Polio, measles and rubella have been eliminated
in the U.S., and disease rates from vaccine-preventable diseases
have been reduced by 99% in the United States. The last 50 years
have given us much to celebrate but we must remember that there
are still children, adolescents and adults who need the protection
that vaccines provide. Our work is not done! |
Top
Photo
credit - Photography provided by The March of Dimes, Rotary International,
and the Public Health Image Library of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
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This
page last modified on April 29, 2005 |
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Rash
caused by measles |
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Extracting
vaccine from vial |
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Polio
eradication program, India |
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Global
measles immunization campaign |
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