Wuensch, who sees the consequences of vaccine-preventable diseases in her work as a nurse,joined other Shot@Life advocates to share concerns during meetings in Congressional offices. "Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a vaccine-preventable disease, resulting in 1.5 million deaths every year and accounting for nearly a third of all childhood deaths," she said. “In 2023, approximately 14.5 million zero dose kids did not receive a single dose of basic vaccines. That is incredibly frustrating and is largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and children being behind in their vaccine schedules. This is where our catch-up program for vaccinations is crucial.”
 
Wuensch emphasized the real-world consequences of missed vaccinations. "A patient I took care of had rotavirus, which is one of the diarrheal illnesses that is preventable through vaccine. And he presented with extreme dehydration and electrolyte abnormalities, which can lead to seizure activity and cardiac arrhythmias, which really can be devastating to the fragile pediatric patient," she said.
 
While most of her meetings in Washington D.C. were with Congressional staff members, Wuensch got to have an impromptu hallway conversation with Rep. Morgan McGarvey of Louisville, who expressed concern about this flu season's severity. Wuensch attributed that, in part, to people not getting vaccinated.
 
“There seems to be a general sense that people are afraid of the flu vaccine, or just simply don't know the evidence behind it and don't see the value in it which is quite unfortunate because the flu can be extremely deadly especially to our pediatric population," she said.
 
Wuensch’s advocacy underscores a crucial point: vaccines are not only important for health; They are also cost-effective.
 
"It's much more devastating to a... budget to have to pay for hospitalizations for patients who are ill, and much more cost-effective to just be able to partake in preventative medicine and vaccinate our population," she said. “A recent study of a small measles outbreak in Washington state in 2019 cost $3.4 million in state public health expenditures, lost productivity and medical expenses. The cost for the public health response was almost $32,000 per case.
 
“People need to know vaccinations are safe,” she said. “They are evidence-based. There is an extreme wealth of data supporting these vaccinations.”
 
Wuensch also emphasized the global nature of vaccine-preventable diseases since they can easily cross borders.
 
“One case of an infectious disease that is preventable by a vaccine is a threat to everybody globally because of how worldly we are in our travelling,” she said. “Just because you’re not seeing your neighbor experience a devastating illness does not mean that you are safe from experiencing these illnesses. That is why vaccination is crucial to all on a global level.”
 
To learn more about Shot@Life, visit shotatlife.org