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Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs
In many countries, adverse medical events resulting from vaccination are compensated by government programs. More
Human Papillomavirus Infection
Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) can cause a variety of medical conditions. Many HPVs are sexually transmitted, and some can lead to cancer of the cervix, anus, and throat. Two HPV vaccines are licensed in the United States, one protecting against four strains of HPV, and the other protecting against two. HPV vaccination is recommended in the United States for adolescents. More
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Different Types of Vaccines
Vaccines are made using several different processes. They may contain live viruses that have been attenuated (weakened or altered so as not to cause illness); inactivated or killed organisms or viruses; inactivated toxins (for bacterial diseases where toxins generated by the bacteria, and not the bacteria themselves, cause illness); or merely segments of the pathogen (this includes both subunit and conjugate vaccines). More
History of Anti-vaccination Movements
Though many consider vaccination a top public health achievement of modern medicine, opposition to vaccination dates back to its introduction in the early 1800s. More
From the Gallery
Which now vaccine-preventable disease may have emerged in epidemic form as a result of increasing cleanliness of the water supply?
Measles
Polio
Whooping cough
Diphtheria
B
The improved American sanitary conditions of the early 1900s meant that exposure to polio was delayed until later in life, when a child had lost maternal protection and was also more vulnerable to the most severe form of the disease. Read more in our polio timeline.