Place Your Bets!

[le_trombone]

Making book

Inspired by a conversation I had with the daughter of a cousin of mine, and the serendipitous appearance of a couple of articles in the paper:

Poll Extinct To Win

Comments

[le_trombone]

Basically, the whole anti-vaccinator deal came up in conversation, and I found out that that my mother's cousin had come down with polio as a child (fortunately a mild case), that my second cousin's daughter had never had mumps (let's hear it for vaccination -- I had it for my tenth birthday), and also asked "what's an iron lung?"

Which made me feel a little old. Not that iron lungs were in common use when I was a kid, but they were certainly present on television, mostly in public service commercials aimed at parents who did remember these things.

[mplsfish]

I voted for the parasite because it can't survive without a host every year. Polio virus lives dormant in dirt. One theory I have heard for the outbreak in the Victorian era is the new fanaticism for cleanliness. Prior to that, babies were exposed to a lot of dirt prior to age one. After one the immune system changes. The decline of breast feeding played a role as well but not as profound I think.

I never had mumps but I did get measles despite the vaccine. After reading the wiki on polio I wonder if having my tonsils out had anything to do with that. Hmmmm.