Diphtheria has been around for roughly 100 years and had a high rate of illness and death among young children. Due to the high death rate among children, a vaccine was developed and has been widely distributed since the 1920’s and 1930’s, when the disease was at its peak. While older children and adults did have cases of death from diphtheria infections, the highest death rate was in children younger than five years of age. Thanks to the widespread availability and distribution of the vaccine, today diphtheria cases are very rare, with the disease being more or less eradicated from the United States and other developed countries. Vaccinations provide people with immunity against potentially life-threatening illnesses, not just for the individuals receiving the vaccine but for those people who are immunocompromised and not able to receive vaccinations. Herd immunity keeps those without vaccines safe but only when a high percentage of the population has received vaccines.