General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Measles is back: A mother's story, from today's LA Times: [View all]Feral Child
(2,086 posts)is that 5 out of six died. That doesn't happen much today, because of vaccinations. Are you advocating a return to those statistics?
No, we can't cry about "mights" but we can certainly look at the "dids" and take care not to revisit those mortality rates on future generations.
I'm a year younger than you. Out of approximately 30 kids in my elementary class 1 had survived polio. He was crippled for life and had to wear a brace and a shoe with a 3" thick sole. He was in great pain. He sat in a chair and watched as the rest of us took gym class and "square dancing" or went out to play during recess.
He wasn't in our "Drum and Bugle Corps". He didn't apply to become a "Patrol Boy" crossing guard.
Not a happy boy.
An 8 grade level school, say approximately 240 students, there were 3 other similar victims in that student body. No telling how many didn't go to school because they couldn't, or were dead.
This, btw, in a moderately-sized mid-western city.
My wife has a good friend, your age, that had polio as a child. Besides her ruined leg she has a shopping list of medical problems associated with that disease.
No, I don't cry about "what might have been", but i actually do about "what might be" because people decide to gamble with the lives of their children based on a stubborn and ignorant belief.