Those of us “of a certain age” remember the polio and measles outbreaks of the 1950s and 1960s. For those too young to remember, those were scary times. Parents worried about nasty, life-long side effects.

This post has photos of some young ones who had to deal with the outcome of getting polio.

The Sister Kenny Institute here in Minneapolis was founded by an Australian nurse who found a way to help mitigate the effect of polio on people’s limbs.

And, those people affected in the 1950s who lived had to deal with those side effects for decades. The last person who was in an iron lung due to paralysis from polio passed away in the late 2000s.

That disease was only brought under control through nation-wide immunization of the populations with multiple doses of the serum.

Now, we’re dealing with people who have decided not to vaccinate their children for measles.  This writer is “of a certain age” and experienced two strains.  They weren’t a good experience, and there was a lot of fear that there’d be a lasting problem.

What are those problems?

• pneumonia
• encephalitis (swelling of the brain)
• blindness
• deafness
• death

The charge that the MMR vaccination causes autism has been debunked for years.

So, protect yourself, your family and your neighbors and get those in your family who haven’t received the two doses of serum vaccinated.  And, if you received your doses decades ago, check with your doctor to see if a booster would make sense.

measles vaccine · polio · side effects · vaccinations · vaccines

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