We still have many people in the country who believe that vaccines are harmful. The question therefore is, what have we seen happen over the years because of vaccines.
In 1939 whooping cough was the third largest cause of infant death. It was the ninth overall cause of death in the United Sates for all ages. Vaccines have changed that completely.
In 1939 diphtheria was the fourth largest cause of infant death. It was the tenth overall cause of death in the United States for all ages. Vaccines have changed that completely.
In 1939 tetanus was the sixth largest cause of infant death. It was the twelfth overall cause of death in the United States for all ages. Vaccines have changed that completely.
In 1939 measles was the fifteenth largest cause of infant death. It was the thirty-fifth overall cause of death for all ages. Vaccines have changed that completely.
We owe the elimination of smallpox to vaccines. We limited the number of cases of polio thanks to vaccines, and we owe the rarity of congenital rubella to vaccines.
There continue to be people who tout the fact that vaccines cause autism. They don’t seem to recognize the fact that Dr. Wakefield originally made up that story with fake research. He did so in order to get rich selling his own alternate vaccine. His lawyer friend was going to get rich by suing all the vaccine manufacturers on behalf of autistic patients.
When the truth came out, Dr. Wakefield was stripped of his medical license. He left England and came to the U.S. to continue his propaganda. He developed an anti-vaccine cult to go with that.
There certainly are side effects to vaccines like there are to any medication. The old Pertussis vaccine caused high fevers and sometimes febrile seizures in young children who received it. We now have an improved version with less side effects.
The sad part about all of this is that there are individuals who still cling to these beliefs. They support politicians who concur with their stance. We need to be wary of such politicians. We do not need them to take us back to 1939.