Grandparents need to tell of life without vaccines

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Dale Heisinger / Herald Forum

I am a grandparent of five grandchildren and a retired pediatrician and I advised my two sons to get their children vaccinated, which they did. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children should receive 12 vaccinations by age 6, protecting them against 16 preventable infectious diseases, including measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). The MMR vaccine was released for use in 1971 and two doses provide 97 percent protection.

When 95 percent of children are vaccinated, the risk of spreading measles is non-existent. However, with declining vaccination rates nationwide and in Washington state, there is now an increase in measles cases throughout the U.S. In 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the this country, but as of Feb. 18, there have been 1,004 confirmed cases reported in 24 states, with 30 children being hospitalized. Most of these cases have been in unvaccinated children.

When I was growing up in California, I remember occasionally seeing quarantine signs posted on doors in my neighborhood and when I asked my parents what that meant, they told me that someone in the house either had a contagious disease or was exposed to someone that did. We learned that there was one classmate who had polio, which was a disease that was greatly feared by every parent. I don’t recall this child’s outcome, however I never saw him in school again.

Public health surveillance no longer posts signs but it does monitor infectious diseases, a fail-safe and necessary service designed to protect us. However, the greatest protection comes from vaccinations.

Read more at: https://www.heraldnet.com/2026/03/15/forum-grandparents-need-to-tell-of-life-without-vaccines/

[Ocelot II]

1. Anybody remember the days before the Salk vaccine?

Photos of kids in iron lungs. My mother, a nurse, hauled my little ass to the doctor for my shot as soon as it was available. She'd seen those kids. Unfortunately we are governed by idiots who are happy to Make Polio Great Again, not to mention measles and diphtheria and all that other crap.

[Irish_Dem]

4. My mother was also a nurse who took care of iron lung kids.

It rattled her to her core and she was a very tough cookie.

Same here, I got any and all vaccines come hell or high water.

I would love to hear your mother and mine have a discussion about today's
vaccine situation.

[multigraincracker]

2. Just take a stroll through an old

cemetery. Check the ages and years.

[KT2000]

3. I went to school with a girl

who was crippled from polio. She walked strangely and today trump would have made fun of her.

As a grown person, a woman in my neighborhood had survived polio and had to use leg braces her whole life. It hit her again when she was in her 50s as they have learned can happen.

[DURHAM D]

5. My classmate spent a long time in an iron lung in the family living room.

She survived but always wore a leg brace as one leg was 4 or 5 inches shorter than the other.
I visited her most days after school and read to her.

I remember well the day we got our first polio shot.

[Norrrm]

6. What's that mark on your arm?

[murielm99]

7. My dad made sure we had every available vacccine.

He told us horror stories, too. None of my three ever went without their shots.

It is useful to note that I never once had a class in school that did not have at least one kid affected by polio. Many of them had one short leg. My husband has similar stories. He is 81 and I am 77.

[3catwoman3]

8. The Hib vaccine was career-changing in a good way.

A bit more than a decade into my pediatric NP career, the Hib vaccine (Hemophilus influenza B) was introduced, and made our job as pediatric docs and NPs easier and safer.

The Hemophilus influenza B bacterium causes epiglottitis - infection and swelling of the epiglottis, the little anatomical trapdoor that closes when we swallow to keep food and liquids going down the esophagus (food pipe) rather than the trachea (windpipe). If an infected epiglottis swells badly enough, it can completely obstruct the airway. Early epiglottitis has symptoms very similar to croup, which is viral infection of the vocal cords. Sore throat and hoarseness.

Before the Hib vaccine, it was always scary and tricky when examining a child with a sore throat and hoarseness because the very act of sticking a tongue blade in the mouth to try to get a good look at the back of the throat could cause an infected epiglottis to slam shut and block the kid's airway. Do I stick the tongue blade in there, or don't I?

It was such a relief, once the vaccine came along, to be able to thoroughly examine a sick child without worrying that you might kill them.

Hemophilus influenza B also causes meningitis. Since the vaccine, incidence of serious disease from this nasty bug dropped by 99%.

[mwmisses4289]

10. As a grandparent, i remember the horror stories my mom, an rn, told.

However, being born at the tail end of the boomer generation and beginning of gen x, my mom hauled my brother and me to get every vaccine as it came out. So I don't remember a time without vaccines.