Vaccines against 10 major pathogens including measles, rotavirus and hepatitis B are expected to prevent 69 million deaths in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2030, according to a new study published in medical journal The Lancet.
The study estimates the impact of vaccinations against hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, human papillomavirus, Japanese encephalitis, measles, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A, Streptococcus pneumoniae, rotavirus, rubella and yellow fever across 98 low- and middle-income countries.
Out of the nearly 70 million deaths it’s estimated these vaccines will prevent in the participating countries over 30 years, 37 million were prevented between 2000 and 2019. Inoculations against measles had the single biggest impact, as researchers estimate they will prevent some 56 million deaths in participating countries through 2030. The study also indicates that children under 5 years old comprise a majority of prevented deaths, especially due to measles vaccines.
“There has been a much-needed investment in childhood vaccination programs in low-income and middle-income countries,” writes Caroline Trotter — a researcher at the University of Cambridge and coauthor of the study. “Our modeling has provided robust evidence on the effectiveness of vaccination programs in [these countries] and indicated what might be lost if current vaccination programs are not sustained.”
The study’s findings come as skepticism to vaccines in general — and especially to those against the novel coronavirus — encumber several nations’ plans to get their populations vaccinated.
In the U.S., some 26 million doses — corresponding to almost 8% of the overall population — of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered as of Jan. 28, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A nationwide poll released in early December, as COVID-19 vaccines neared government approval, showed only half of Americans surveyed said they were sure they would get vaccinated.
In France, where the public has generally been more skeptical of vaccines than residents in other countries, a recent Ipsos poll found that only 40% of French respondents said they would get vaccinated against the coronavirus. As of Jan. 26, the French health ministry reported that just over 1 million primary doses — slightly more than 1.4% of France’s 67 million residents — of the vaccine had been administered.
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Vaccinations Expected to Prevent Almost 70 Million Deaths in Low and Middle Income Countries, Study Shows originally appeared on usnews.com
