The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a U.S. agency focused on preventing and controlling disease and promoting public health. Established in 1946, its mission has expanded to include a National Immunization Program. The CDC consolidates health statistics, promotes health, prevents disease, and prepares for public health emergencies. Immunology, the study of the immune system, plays a central role in these efforts, allowing the CDC to understand, prevent, and respond to health threats.
Tracking Immune-Related Health
The CDC employs extensive surveillance systems to monitor the prevalence and trends of immune-related diseases across the United States. A primary tool for this is the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS), which collects data on infectious and non-infectious conditions. This system helps track diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, which are all vaccine-preventable. Data collected through NNDSS and other platforms help understand disease burden, identify outbreaks, and detect new pathogens.
The CDC also utilizes epidemiological methods to analyze disease patterns related to immunity. Epidemiologists, often referred to as “disease detectives,” collect and collate data by time, place, and person to describe disease occurrence. This descriptive epidemiology helps in understanding how diseases spread and who is most affected. Serosurveillance, analyzing blood specimens for antibodies, helps determine disease burden or immunity gaps within a population.
Surveillance extends to monitoring conditions like acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), which the CDC began tracking in 2014. The agency also monitors the impact of new vaccines on disease rates, such as newer pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). These comprehensive data collection and analysis activities inform public health responses and guide the allocation of resources to address immune-related health challenges.
Advancing Immunological Science
The CDC operates as a scientific and laboratory backbone for public health, conducting and supporting research in immunology. Its laboratories provide high-quality services for public health, including research and testing. These labs develop and validate diagnostic tests for immune-mediated diseases and pathogens. For example, the CDC developed serology tests for surveillance and research, used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency’s scientific work also involves understanding how the immune system responds to various pathogens. The immune system has innate and adaptive components: innate immunity provides immediate defense, and adaptive immunity develops specific, long-term protection. Research in CDC laboratories helps characterize these immune responses, which is important for developing effective prevention and control measures. This includes studying how antibodies neutralize or destroy disease-carrying organisms, and how vaccines imitate infection to trigger antibody production.
CDC laboratories also provide crucial support during outbreak investigations and public health emergencies. They accept specimens from state public health laboratories for analysis, with information on requirements and turnaround times. This laboratory support ensures that public health officials have the necessary diagnostic information to track disease spread and make informed decisions to reduce transmission.
Guiding Vaccination Strategies
The CDC guides vaccination strategies in the United States, a primary way its immunological expertise impacts public health. The agency works closely with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to develop and update vaccine schedules for all age groups. These recommendations are based on extensive scientific evidence, including disease morbidity and mortality rates, cost-effectiveness, and clinical trial results on vaccine safety and effectiveness.
The CDC continuously monitors vaccine safety and effectiveness through robust surveillance systems. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), co-administered by the CDC and FDA, collects reports of adverse events following vaccination from anyone, including healthcare providers and the public. While VAERS reports alone cannot establish causation, they serve as an early warning system for potential safety signals.
When a safety signal is identified in VAERS, further studies are conducted using systems like the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). Established in 1990, VSD is a collaborative project between the CDC and healthcare organizations, using electronic health data to monitor vaccine safety in near real-time. This system allows for detailed studies on rare and serious adverse events, providing data to inform vaccine safety recommendations and address public concerns.
Beyond recommendations and safety monitoring, the CDC is actively involved in promoting vaccine education and addressing vaccine hesitancy. They develop communication resources for healthcare providers to educate patients about vaccinations, including materials on childhood and adult immunization schedules. The agency also supports programs that aim to enhance vaccine knowledge and confidence among healthcare professionals, equipping them with strategies to engage in effective discussions with patients and parents about vaccine safety and efficacy.
Protecting Global Immunological Health
The CDC extends its immunological expertise beyond U.S. borders through international collaborations and initiatives to improve global health. The agency recognizes that global health security is interconnected with domestic health security, as infectious diseases can rapidly cross international boundaries. CDC’s global staff are often on the front lines, working to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats at their source.
The CDC collaborates with ministries of health, international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), and in-country partners to strengthen public health infrastructures worldwide. This includes supporting the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), which aims to enhance countries’ abilities to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. Through initiatives like the Global Disease Detection Operations Center (GDDOC), the CDC monitors global public health events and provides technical support for surveillance, laboratory services, and emergency operations.
The agency actively trains public health professionals in other countries through programs like the Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs), which equip “disease detectives” with the skills to prevent, track, and control outbreaks. Since 1980, the CDC has trained epidemiologists in surveillance methods across more than 80 countries. These collaborations and capacity-building efforts help countries respond more rapidly to disease threats and contribute to a safer, healthier world by containing outbreaks before they become widespread.