CDC: Vaccinations could have prevented costly US measles outbreak
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Childhood vaccinations given over the past two decades in the US have prevented an estimated 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths – saving the nation $295bn in direct costs and $1.38tn in total societal costs, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on 24 April, marking the 20th anniversary of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, which was created by Congress in 1993 and first implemented in 1994.