1958 Polio Vaccines

The 1958 polio outbreak alone killed 3,145 Americans and paralyzed 21,269 others (Polio Today). This goes without mentioning the 35,000 polio cases reported annually in late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Across the country, Americans lived in fear of the terrible disease. The iron lung had become an all too familiar, but no less horrific, sight. Then, in 1955, the inactivated polio vaccine was introduced. In just two years, the number of polio cases reported dropped to below 2,500. Finally, in a moment of scientific and national triumph, the disease was declared eradicated in the United States in 1979 (CDC). Yet, many of today’s parents are turning away from vaccination. The internet is overflowing with people who have never been to medical school

Parents were left childless and children were orphaned. Today, it is possible to totally prevent such events. If everyone is vaccinated according to their doctor’s recommendation, the country will be invulnerable to viruses including; polio, diphtheria, and measles. However, this is only possible when everyone who is able is vaccinated. In the past two decades, vaccines have prevented approximately 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations, and 732,000 deaths (USA Today). These numbers are a miracle that one born even fifty years ago would have claimed impossible. When looking at accurate data there is no question of the good vaccination has done for humanity. Yet, there are those who argue against the use of vaccinations. They do not understand that any perceived dangers from being vaccinated are far outweighed by the massive loss of life that the loss of said vaccinations would

None of these studies showed any connection between the two. Much of the hysteria over vaccines and autism can be attributed to Dr. Andrew Wakefield. He conducted a study in 1998 that linked the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine with autism. It was later discovered that the doctor misrepresented and altered the medical history of every one of the patients involved in his study in a deliberate attempt to reach the results he did. Of the twelve patients involved in the study, five had already showed developmental issues before taking the vaccine and three never had autism at all. In addition, it was discovered in 2004 that Wakefield had been paid over six-hundred thousand dollars by a law firm seeking to sue vaccine manufacturers. Wakefield has since been stripped of his medical license and his paper has been discredited. There have been no studies since Wakefield’s to positively link autism and