It is well comprehended these days that vaccination is one of the most substantial medical interventions of the modern era, which has revolutionized the way people prevent and control infectious diseases and myriads of disorders.
Keeping this in mind, The Ethiopian Herald had a stay with Lidia Wondimagegn, a Health Officer (HO), graduated from Bahir Dar University, to solicit crucial information about the crux of vaccination in bolstering human health and beyond.
She said, “Vaccination and immunization are crucial public health interventions that protect individuals and communities from preventable diseases, averting millions of deaths and improving overall health outcomes. Yes, vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with human body’s natural defenses to build protection. When people get a vaccine, their immune system responds. We now have vaccines to prevent more than 20 life-threatening diseases, helping people of all ages live longer, healthier lives.”
Vaccination and immunization are essential tools in the prevention and control of infectious diseases. Vaccines work by stimulating the body’s immune system to produce a protective response against specific infectious agents, such as viruses or bacteria.
Many infectious diseases such as smallpox, polio, and measles have been largely eradicated or brought under control through widespread vaccination programs. However, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation have become major obstacles to the success of vaccination programs, she added.
The spread of false information about vaccines has led to a decrease in vaccination rates, which in turn has resulted in the resurgence of preventable diseases. It is essential to promote accurate information about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, and to encourage vaccine uptake through targeted educational campaigns and public health initiatives so as to address these challenges.
“By continuing to prioritize vaccination and immunization as critical components of public health, we can help prevent the spread of infectious diseases and protect the health and well-being of individuals and communities.”
As to Lidia, vaccines work by stimulating the body’s immune system to produce antibodies that can recognize and fight off specific pathogens, thereby providing protection against future infections. Despite the tremendous benefits of vaccination, some individuals remain hesitant to receive vaccines due to concerns about their safety and effectiveness.
However, extensive scientific research has consistently demonstrated the safety and efficacy of vaccines, and the overwhelming majority of medical professionals strongly endorse their use. It has been crucial in the past, and it will undoubtedly continue to be a critical aspect of public health in the future.
Not only do vaccines protect individuals from diseases, but they also benefit the community as a whole. When a significant portion of a population is vaccinated, it creates herd immunity. This occurs when the spread of an infectious disease is contained because a sufficient number of people are immune to it, reducing the chances of it spreading further. As a result, even those who cannot be vaccinated for various reasons, such as infants or people with certain medical conditions, are protected.
The importance of vaccination cannot be overstated, as it has saved countless lives and prevented many more from falling ill to infectious diseases. One of the most significant benefits of vaccination is its ability to prevent the spread of disease. When a large percentage of a population is vaccinated, it creates herd immunity, which means that even those who are not vaccinated are protected. This helps to reduce the spread of disease and ultimately leads to a decline in the number of cases of the disease. This is especially important for those who cannot receive vaccinations, such as young children or people with certain medical conditions, as they are at a higher risk of contracting the disease.
“Vaccination also helps prevent serious illness and death. Many vaccine-preventable diseases can cause serious complications, such as pneumonia, encephalitis, or meningitis, which can be fatal. Vaccines work by stimulating the body’s immune system to produce antibodies that fight off the disease-causing agents. This helps to prevent the disease from taking hold in the body and reduces the severity of the illness if it does occur,” she underlined.
Lidia further elucidated that the cost of treating a single case of a vaccine-preventable disease can be enormous, both in terms of direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost productivity. Vaccines, on the other hand, are relatively inexpensive and can be administered to large numbers of people at once, making them a highly efficient way to prevent disease.
True, vaccination is an essential tool in the fight against emerging infectious diseases. New diseases can emerge at any time, and vaccines are often the first line of defense against them, she opined.
Yes, she said immunization is the process of making an individual immune to a particular disease. This can be achieved through the administration of a vaccine, which activates an immune response in the body. Besides, immunization is the process of making an individual immune to a particular disease and is typically provided through a schedule of vaccinations, Lidia underlined.
According to Lidia, vaccines are of significantly useful in protecting people and their family members from many serious and potentially deadly diseases, helping stop diseases spreading to people who cannot have vaccines, such as babies too young to be vaccinated and those who are too ill to be vaccinated, undergoing rigorous safety testing before being introduced, reducing or even getting rid of some diseases – if enough people are vaccinated.
She said, “Vaccination is the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves and our children against ill health. Diseases like measles and diphtheria have reduced to a very low number of cases each year since vaccines were introduced. These cases are often related to travel. However, if people stop having vaccines, it is possible for infectious diseases to quickly spread again.”
Being considered one of the most effective mechanisms in human body’s defense against infections in general, vaccines, present in the history of humankind for more than two centuries and have been essential to achieve the eradication of smallpox, elimination of poliomyelitis, neonatal tetanus, among others, she added.
Vaccine development is not restricted to the prevention of infectious diseases, as there are several lines of exploration on therapeutic vaccines against chronic non-communicable diseases, including cancer, hypertension and so on.
In a nutshell, it is possible to observe the presence of collective, herd immunity, causing an interruption in the circulation of the pathogen when high vaccination coverage is achieved in a population through vaccines with these characteristics.
A new vaccine goes through many phases of development, including inquiry, discovery, pre-clinical testing, clinical testing and regulatory approval. Once the vaccine is approved, the vaccine is then manufactured and shipped to where it is needed. After vaccines are introduced into immunization schedules, they are closely monitored through trials and surveillance to see if they are effective and safe. In so doing a number of disordered have been well treated.
BY MENGESHA AMARE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 27 MARCH 2025
