News on #vaccines against #COVID19 is very encouraging. Its timely to remember the fantastic impact that other vaccines have had over the last 200 yrs in Ireland - apart from clean water, vaccines have saved more lives than any other public health intervention @HSEImm @RCPI_news
In 1863 vaccination against smallpox was made compulsory for all children born in Ireland. Deaths fell from 7,550 for the decade to 1880 to the last reported death here in 1907. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1979 – this one vaccine saved 100s of millions of lives globally. 
Diphtheria was a very common cause of death among children until the 1940s - there were 318 deaths reported in 1938. With the introduction of a vaccine, the number of deaths fell year on year with 5 deaths in 1950; the last death notified from diphtheria was in 1967. @HSELive
In Ireland, polio infection (mainly affected young children causing long term paralysis) became more common after 1920 with major epidemics during the 1940s & '50s. A vaccine was introduced in 1957. The last reported case of polio here was in 1984.
The number of cases of measles declined dramatically after introduction of measles vaccine in 1985, from 10,000 cases in 1985 to 201 cases in 1987. @hpscireland
In 1999, there were 536 cases of meningococcal #meningitis. The meningitis C vaccine was introduced in 2000, with the meningitis B vaccine introduced in 2016. Cases of meningococcal meningitis have dropped more than 80% since these vaccines were introduced.
The rotavirus vaccine was introduced in 2016 to prevent severe diarrhoea in children. Reported cases of rotavirus infection fell by >70% in 2018.
While we await the introduction of vaccines against #COVID19, we must continue to ensure uptake of other vaccines currently available to us. This year, the children’s #flu vaccine is available for free to all children aged 2-12 years through GPs & pharmacies. @ICGPnews
For more information on this and all vaccines please visit immunisation.ie @HSEImm #vaccineswork @roinnslainte
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