Vaccine-preventable disease

A vaccine-preventable disease is an infectious disease for which an effective preventive vaccine exists. If a person acquires such a disease and dies from it, the death is considered a vaccine-preventable death. The most common and serious vaccine-preventable diseases tracked by the World Health Organization are diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae serotype b infection, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, pertussis, poliomyelitis, rubella, tetanus, tuberculosis and yellow fever. The World Health Organization reports that licensed vaccines are available to prevent, or to contribute to the prevention and control of, 31 vaccine-preventable infections. The term is a category defined by the existence of an effective vaccine, so membership can change as vaccines are developed, and the entry records how the category is defined and tracked.