Mumps is no joke. In 1964, a friend of my wife's was studying in France as part of a year abroad program offered by our college. He came down with mumps and eventually died — it never occurred to the doctors that an adult might contract mumps, since it's usually considered a childhood disease.
*nod* I don't think it's a joke, I was upset to see that the disease is showing up more in the US. I hope nothing about my post really implied that I thought of it as a joke.
Oh good, I'm just glad that my post didn't come off as flippant. I too am very concerned about the reemergence of diseases that we had more or less eradicated.
Have I ever mentioned that my Father had polio as a child?
In one of my classes one of my classmates said that she didn't believe in vaccines because she thought that it was weakening our ability to fight diseases. My instructor didn't mince any words in informing her that she was wrong, that a vaccine introduces some of the disease into the system for our immune system to build a resistance to, and brought up that we can't appreciate the fear that some of the diseases held just a generation ago.
You did mention awhile back that your father had had polio. I'm glad he survived and suffered no major paralysis.
Apropos folks who don't believe in vaccines: I find it amazing that our species has sufficiently evolved to discover countermeasures against horrific diseases, only to have misguided people turn their backs on these miracles. One of my favorite quotes is from Schiller (via Kurt Vonnegut) — "Against the stupidity of men, the gods themselves contend in vain." Or, in Zorkian terminology, "I see no evolution here."
I seem to recall a thread many years ago to determine the most significant person in the last thousand years. My vote went to Pasteur.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-04-13 06:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-13 07:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-13 11:45 pm (UTC)I sometimes think we're becoming a third-world country. Sigh.
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Date: 2008-04-14 07:07 am (UTC)Have I ever mentioned that my Father had polio as a child?
In one of my classes one of my classmates said that she didn't believe in vaccines because she thought that it was weakening our ability to fight diseases. My instructor didn't mince any words in informing her that she was wrong, that a vaccine introduces some of the disease into the system for our immune system to build a resistance to, and brought up that we can't appreciate the fear that some of the diseases held just a generation ago.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-15 05:38 am (UTC)Apropos folks who don't believe in vaccines: I find it amazing that our species has sufficiently evolved to discover countermeasures against horrific diseases, only to have misguided people turn their backs on these miracles. One of my favorite quotes is from Schiller (via Kurt Vonnegut) — "Against the stupidity of men, the gods themselves contend in vain." Or, in Zorkian terminology, "I see no evolution here."
I seem to recall a thread many years ago to determine the most significant person in the last thousand years. My vote went to Pasteur.