There's a flickr photo collection of historical archives from the US National Museum of Health and Medicine that has recently been published. It provides an insight into the devastations of war, the efforts of medical services going back to the US Civil war times. It ranges from interesting to very disturbing, but if you have a strong stomach (or a clinical eye), then it might be something you'd like to look at.
One of the things I found was the picture below, and it reminded me of how far we've come.
In a former life (i.e. pre-baby), I worked as an immunisation project officer for a short while. Nowadays, being in my demographic (middle class, female, tertiary educated) is actually a risk factor for conscientious objection (i.e. not getting kids immunized). But let's not forget what we are protecting our children from:
The picture above is actually quite tame, but shows the devastating effects that vaccine-preventable disease can cause. Iron lungs (special respirators to keep people alive) were a part of life in my parent's generation, when Polio was a real risk for many children. Thankfully now its incidence is limited to a few small pockets on the planet. Health workers are working hard to eliminate it completely.
But the case isn't so rosy for other vaccine-preventable diseases. This year, a five-month-old baby died from the vaccine-preventable Pertussis (Whooping Cough). She lived in an area where a significant proportion of parents are choosing not to vaccinate. Pertussis is on the rise again, and I'm not going to post the disturbing images of babies "Whooping". But it's awful. I hope none of you ever have to experience it. Seriously.
As vaccines are successful, the chances of contracting the disease reduce to the point where it then becomes just as likely to experience a side effect as to actually get the disease (i.e. very, very, very, small). But as recent events are showing, it only takes a short period of non-vaccinations for serious diseases to make a comeback.
Let's not go there, shall we?
Edit: for more information on the diseases that we immunise against, and why it's important, check out the Immunise Australia Program website.
4 comments:
People have short memories don't they? Maybe photos like this should be in the immunisation brochures!
(my kids are fully immunised!!!)
My kids are immunised too. Everytime they cry after their shots I tell them its for the greater good.
I think that's really the main reason why people object - the short-term pain and guilt that can come from making your children cry- even for a very short period. It made me uncomfortable seeing my son's pain at his 4 year immunisations. But that is not a reason to leave him susceptible to debilitating and potentially fatal diseases.
Megan - I think the photos idea is a good one. Not just for polio, but for HIb, Tetanus, Meningococcal, Measles etc. We can become complacent when we can't see what we're risking...
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