Eradication is the concept that a disease is completely eliminated from a region. (Carter nd) To date, only one infectious disease, smallpox, has been classified as eradicated worldwide (CDC 2010). How did this eradication occur? From 1958 to 1965, all fifty states passed laws requiring school-age children to receive the smallpox vaccine (College of Philadelphia). As a result, by 1971, no cases of smallpox had been reported in the United States for 20 years. The last known case of smallpox worldwide occurred in Somalia in 1977 (CDC 2010). Although smallpox is the only eradicated disease listed, the Carter Foundation has listed six other diseases as having the potential to be eradicated: lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and tapeworm. pork. To these diseases listed above are added to date the following diseases which are considered preventable by vaccination: chickenpox, diphtheria, Haemohphilus Influenza type B, hepatitis A and B, HPV, influenza, measles, meningococcal disease, mumps, whooping cough, pneumonia, polio, rotavirus, rubella, shingles, smallpox, tetanus, yellow fever and STDs (Carter nd). The effectiveness of vaccinations continues to be proven (Malone and Hinaman nd). For example, after the development of the measles vaccine and implementation of the immunization program, the number of reported measles cases decreased from 57,345 in 1977 to 2,587 in 1984 (CDC 2010). However, even though vaccinations have been shown to be safe and effective; there are still risks as well as the implication that not everyone who is vaccinated will achieve immunity. That being said, serious harm from vaccination is rare (Malone and Hinaman). A Glanz (2013) Study of the Vaccine...... middle of article ......senior care organizations across the United States, JAMA PediatricsInstitute of Medicine (2010). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change to Advance Health Retrieved from http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12956&page+R1Malone, K and Hinaman, A (nd), Vaccination Mandates, public imperative and mandate, http https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/guides-pubs/downloads/vacc_mandates_chptr13.pdf. Accessed 05/19/2014Ohio Public Health Association, accessed May 21 http://www.ohiopha.orgBiography of Rep. Mark R. Accessed May 21, http://www.ohiohouse.gov/mark-j-romanchukU. S. CONST. amend 1 (1940) The Free Exercise Clause; 14th Amendment 310 US 296Wallace, JM (May 19, 2014) Measles and mumps outbreaks put Ohio at the center of a national wave of vaccine-preventable diseases; Cleveland Plain Dealer; taken from www.cleveland.com/health fit