Members of the Immunization and Infectious Diseases (IID) Workgroup have expertise in areas including immunizations, vaccine-preventable diseases, viral hepatitis, and tuberculosis (TB). They developed the objectives related to immunizations and infectious diseases, and they’ll provide data to track progress toward achieving these objectives throughout the decade.
Read more about the Immunization and Infectious Diseases Workgroup
Objective Status
2 Target met or exceeded
4 Improving
5 Little or no detectable change
3 Getting worse
3 Baseline only
3 Developmental
0 Research
Immunization and Infectious Diseases Workgroup Objectives (20)
Target met or exceeded
Target met or exceeded
Improving
Little or no detectable change
Little or no detectable change
Little or no detectable change
Little or no detectable change
Little or no detectable change
Getting worse
Getting worse
About the Workgroup
Approach and Rationale
Infectious diseases are a major cause of illness, disability, and death in the United States — and many are vaccine preventable.1 For the 2018–19 flu season, 62.6 percent of children age 6 months through 17 years and 45.3 percent of adults age 18 years and older were vaccinated against seasonal influenza.2
Core objectives selected by the IID Workgroup aim to reduce the rates of infectious diseases and associated illnesses and deaths. This can be achieved by improving vaccination coverage, addressing antibiotic-resistant TB, and increasing awareness of and treatment for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and latent TB infection (LTBI).
The IID Workgroup selected developmental objectives that focus on key needs related to vaccinations and disease surveillance. As more data become available, these developmental objectives may become core objectives.
IID objectives and targets are aligned with several federal strategies and priorities, including recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the National Viral Hepatitis Action Plan from the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services (HHS). All Healthy People 2030 core objectives meet several criteria — for example, they have baseline data, a direct impact on health, and an evidence base.
Understanding Immunization and Infectious Diseases
Though infectious diseases are a public health threat for people of all ages and racial/ethnic groups, some populations are disproportionately affected. The incidence of TB and hepatitis B, for example, is higher in the Asian population than other groups. The TB rate in 2018 was 14.3 times higher in people born outside the United States than in people born in the country.3
Reducing these types of disparities will require raising awareness of their impact, providing culturally appropriate preventive care, and eliminating barriers to care. Ultimately, this will decrease the likelihood of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases nationwide.
Emerging issues in Immunization and Infectious Diseases
The need to provide culturally appropriate preventive care will grow over the decade. As the demographics of the population continue to shift, public health and health care systems will need to expand their ability to meet the growing needs of a diverse and aging population.
Hepatitis A rates have increased since 2014 in unvaccinated adults who experience homelessness or use drugs, and rates of hepatitis C have increased since 2013 in young people who inject drugs.4 Hepatitis B incidence has also increased since 2011 in unvaccinated adults ages 40 to 59 years.5
Early diagnosis and treatment is essential to preventing LTBI from becoming TB disease, especially for U.S. residents born in countries with high rates of TB.
In 2019, the United States had the highest number of measles cases since 1992 — and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000.6
In addition, a coordinated strategy is necessary to understand, detect, control, and prevent infectious diseases. In recent years, it’s become critical to consider infectious diseases from a global perspective. This is due to increases in:
- International travel
- Migration
- Food imports
- Bioterrorism threats
Learn More
Citations
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Vaccines by Disease. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/vaccines-diseases.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Flu Vaccination Coverage, United States, 2018–19 Influenza Season. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/coverage-1819estimates.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Reported Tuberculosis in the United States, 2018. Table 5. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Viral Hepatitis Outbreaks. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/outbreaks/index.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Surveillance for Viral Hepatitis – United States, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/statistics/2017surveillance/index.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Measles Cases and Outbreaks. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html
