[mraines]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Born 1948: Polio vax about 1955, Smallpox about the same time (maybe a couple of years later) and maybe tetanus. I do recall tetanus boosters as an adult so the original must have been given at some time or other.

Other than that...nada. I remember at about age 9 or so (happened earlier too from what I heard), if one kid came down with measles, or mumps, or chicken pox, the other parents in the community would bring their kids around to be exposed, the hard logic behind the practice being that those diseases, being "one and done", having the kids get it at a time of their parents' choosing just made things easier for everyone. We kids didn't mind: mumps was uncomfortable for a few days (I recall the horror stories about mumps "going down"...(didn't realize what that meant until years after I had them). Chicken pox was nothing: maybe three sores and that was it. Measles likewise, though mom insisted that the kid(s) with the measles had to be in bed with the lights off for a couple of days. Any one of the three meant a few days off from school so it was sort of like a vacation.

Funny. I don't remember, or even remember hearing, about a kid getting really sick or dying from any of those diseases. They were just a minor part of growing up.

Which is why I agree with making vaccinations optional. The State arbitrarily going the in loco parentis route is tantamount to saying not only that the parents don't have the brains to act in the best interest of their child, but that the state does. I haven't seen much evidence of that.

I don't know how old you are but maybe you don't remember because the vaccines pretty much eliminated them.