Well today was Wally's one-year checkup. And, of course, she got her one-year shots. 4 shots for my poor baby! Luckily she is one of the fastest recoverers (?). Sometimes I think she must not be our daughter, because both of us whine and groan about every real or imagined ailment we think we feel.
Okay, so she wasn't quite this content, but she was still okay.
Since she got shots today, I thought I would address the ever-controversial topic of vaccinations. I feel that vaccinations are a blessing to this world, and personally my children will receive vaccines. The only one I'm not sure about is the HPV vaccine; it is so new I am still waiting for the data to come in and be replicated into oblivion. However, I understand and accept that parents have a right to make decisions like this for their children. I also understand that some children cannot get vaccinated for various reasons. So, while I may not agree with choosing not to vaccine, it is still your right to do so.
June Cleaver time. This is from the CDC website:
"On April 12, 1955, the Salk polio vaccine was declared “safe,
effective and potent.” Since that date, great strides have been made in
reducing and eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases in the United
States. Diseases that were once common-place, such as polio, measles,
mumps, diphtheria and rubella, are now only distant memories for most
Americans. Today, there are few reminders of the suffering,
disabilities, and premature deaths caused by diseases that are now
preventable with vaccines.
Measles was once epidemic in the United States, with more than
55,000 cases and more than 120 deaths as recently as 1989–1991. Today,
measles is no longer circulating in the United States or anywhere else
in this hemisphere thanks to measles vaccine. Just two decades ago about
20,000 cases of invasive Hib disease occurred annually. A physician
training in pediatrics today will likely never see a case of Hib
meningitis, formerly the most common form of life-threatening bacterial
meningitis in the United States. This year, rubella is no longer endemic
in the U.S., but in the 1960s, many people witnessed first-hand the
terrible effects of the rubella virus. During an epidemic between 1964
and 1965, about 20,000 infants were born with deafness, blindness, heart
disease, mental retardation, or other birth defects because the rubella
virus infected their pregnant mothers.
During the last 50 years, numerous changes in vaccine
production and administration have resulted in safer vaccines. The
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has worked since
1964 to carefully review vaccine benefits and risks before making
vaccine recommendations. The 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act
resulted in a nation-wide reporting system, the Vaccine Adverse
Reporting System, to monitor reactions to vaccines. The reports to this
system were instrumental in the changing U.S. recommendations from the
oral polio vaccine (OPV) to the injectable polio vaccine (IPV)
ultimately eliminating the occasional health threats caused by the live
virus contained in OPV. Vaccine safety remains a priority among
government officials, health care providers and consumers. Vaccines,
which do so much to minimize the burden of disease, must remain safe and
effective.
April 12, 2005 marks the 50th anniversary of the first polio vaccine.
Since the introduction of the vaccine, great strides have been made in
significantly reducing the health impact of vaccine-preventable diseases
among children and adults worldwide. Smallpox has been eradicated
worldwide. Polio, measles and rubella have been eliminated in the U.S.,
and disease rates from vaccine-preventable diseases have been reduced by
99% in the United States. The last 50 years have given us much to
celebrate but we must remember that there are still children,
adolescents and adults who need the protection that vaccines provide.
Our work is not done!"
So it would seem that kids in the Cleaver era were just starting to get vaccinated. So while the show makes children out to be happy-go-lucky and carefree, you can see that others (lots of others) were dealing with diseases such as rubella, polio, and Hib. I am grateful to be a Cleaver in this era, where these diseases and their consequences are very nearly forgotten.
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