VACCINE RESOURCE COMMITTEE
of the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association
View Full List of Vaccine Questions Here
General Vaccine Question #14:
Are vaccines still necessary with advances in hygiene?
Hygiene plays a role for some disease transmission, but not all. Many infections are transmitted via airborne and droplet exposure, therefore infection remains possible, despite hygiene efforts.
Improved socioeconomic conditions have undoubtedly had an indirect impact on disease. These include, better nutrition, the development of antibiotics and other treatments, less crowded living conditions and lower birth rates. There is clear and direct evidence that vaccines have decreased the incidence of infections. For example, since sanitation is not better now than it was in 1990, it is hard to attribute the virtual disappearance of diseases such as Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) in children in recent years in countries with routine Hib vaccination to anything other than the vaccine.
Clean water, modern sanitation, and good hygiene practices like handwashing can slow and prevent the spread of infectious diseases whereas immunization provides the body protective antibodies which can fight off diseases. Despite clean drinking water, polio cases in the United States dramatically dropped after a vaccine was introduced in the mid-1950s.
Not all diseases can be prevented with soap and water and/or hand sanitizer because germs spread in many ways. It is hard to completely avoid germs that cause disease. A person can get infected if they get the virus on their hands and then touch their eyes, nose, or mouth before cleaning their hands. Additionally, infection can spread through respiratory secretions when an infected person coughs or sneezes and those exposed inhale the pathogen. Measles, for example, can remain in the air for up to 2 hours. Tetanus, a type of bacteria that lives in the soil, can enter the body through a cut or wound, such as from stepping on a sharp object or animal bites.
