As Americans celebrate our nation’s semiquincentennial, we are grateful to our forebears for a multitude of reasons, including the public health advances that have improved our life expectancy and quality of life over the past 250 years. Often topping the list of public health achievements is vaccination and disease eradication. Infectious microorganisms that once caused deaths from diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, yellow fever, dysentery, typhoid fever, polio, malaria, and smallpox have been dramatically lowered, and countless lives have been saved.
During the Revolutionary War, soldiers were more likely to die from epidemics and other illnesses than from enemy combat. Smallpox was widespread and had a mortality rate of about 30 percent. In 1777, General George Washington took the brave risk of requiring all soldiers to be inoculated against smallpox. Washington’s mass immunization efforts were significant: The campaign reduced the death rate from smallpox among the troops to less than 2 percent. Historians credit Washington’s important decision with helping to save the Continental Army and contributing to American victory.
As events this year focus on our country’s history, keep in mind that vaccinations for diseases such as measles safely and effectively protect children and vulnerable immunocompromised people from suffering from potential illnesses, complications, and preventable deaths. More than 2,000 cases of measles have been confirmed in the U.S. this year, and about 93 percent are in children or adults who are unvaccinated or have an unknown or incomplete vaccination status. About 6 percent of those infected have required hospitalization in this alarming resurgence, the largest since 1992. In 2025, there were three confirmed deaths from this highly contagious airborne disease in the U.S.; all were in unvaccinated individuals.
Vaccination is the most effective way to equip a child’s immune system to stay healthy and to keep others healthy. Parents and caregivers need to ensure their children’s immunizations are current as we approach the usual back-to-school rush. If a child has missed doses or fallen behind, this month provides some needed time to allow for make-up vaccinations.
To learn more about vaccination clinics offered by county health departments and to view flyers about vaccine-preventable diseases, go to Immunization.
Scott Harris, M.D., M.P.H.
State Health Officer