The Imperative to Vaccinate

Human beings are almost certainly the most diseased species on earth. By one accounting, there are at least 1400 human pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, prions, protozoa, viruses, and worms, and of these, 100-150 appear capable of causing human epidemics.1,2 Even this is likely to be an underestimate, as new and sensitive sequencing techniques continue to uncover new viruses at a steady rate.3 We human beings are remarkable in many ways, but why are we remarkable for playing host to so many infectious agents? Why is it that we must maintain high levels of vaccine coverage to prevent infectious agents from sickening or even killing large swaths of the population? The answers lie in the story of human disease epidemics, and it begins with human cultural and technological ascendance and what we now understand to be its inevitable consequences for pestilence and death.

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