Due to the success of immunization programs, the incidence of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases has declined. Therefore, individuals are less aware of the serious consequences of vaccine preventable illnesses. While vaccines are extremely safe and effective, no medical product is 100 percent safe or effective. Vaccines have been proven, over decades, to be one of the safest and most powerful disease prevention tools available. Today there are far fewer visible reminders of the suffering, injuries, and premature deaths caused by diseases that can now be prevented with vaccines. For most of the vaccine-preventable diseases, there has been a 95 percent or more reduction in incidence. Routine immunization has eradicated smallpox from the globe and eliminated wild polio virus in this country. Vaccines have reduced preventable infectious diseases to an all-time low and few children suffer the devastating effects of these illnesses. Prior to approval by FDA, vaccines are extensively tested by scientists to ensure that they are effective and safe. FDA has a stringent regulatory process for licensing vaccines that serves as a model for other countries. For reasons related to the individual, not all vaccinated persons develop immunity. Most routine childhood vaccines are effective for 85% to 95% of recipients. Differences in the way individual immune systems react to a vaccine account for rare occasions when people are not protected following immunization or when they experience side effects. Vaccines are licensed, after stringent testing and study, because the benefits offered to the individual far outweigh the risk of serious health effects. In fact, some risks for serious health effects following vaccination are so rare that they currently cannot be measured. Immunization programs optimally prevent the threat of dangerous infectious diseases that threaten the lives of our citizens, especially the Nation's children and elderly. Vaccines are among the 20th century's most successful and cost-effective public health tools for preventing disease, disability, and death. Additional resources regarding general vaccine safety: | 
