July 13, 2006 -- Mumps, Pertussis Cited as Re-Emerging Diseases

Low immunization coverage and waning immunity may be responsible for recent outbreaks of childhood diseases that were thought to have been eliminated, according to a report released yesterday by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. While immunization is at the highest level ever recorded and the number of diseases targeted for prevention through routinely recommended childhood vaccinations increased to 15 as of early this year, outbreaks of forgotten diseases such as mumps and whooping cough are occurring in the United States, and on the international front, there has been a resurgence of paralytic polio in previously polio-free countries. The resurgence of these three vaccine-preventable diseases is a signal that “We can never become complacent, but must maintain strong programs and public confidence in vaccines and our immunization system,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)