General Discussion

sarge43

(28,940 posts)

44. Why service personnel are walking dart boards for the medics.

Sun Feb 10, 2019, 03:00 PM

Feb 2019

From The Oxford Companion to American Military History

Until well into the 20th century, disease, rather than the effects of enemy weapons, was the the single most important producer of casualties.

Percentage of disease casualties to overall:

Revolutionary War: 90%
Civil War: 71%
Spanish America War: 30%
WWI: 16.5%
WWII: .6%

Note the significant drop between 1865 and 1917. The vaccine for typhoid, also called the soldier's disease, was developed in 1898. In 1911 the entire US military had been vaccinated for it.

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I was a child in a time before there were vaccines for most [View all] MineralMan Feb 2019 OP

In 1956, when I was 6, my father got stationed in Morocco. panader0 Feb 2019 #1

Wow! When I was in the USAF, in 1965-69, MineralMan Feb 2019 #3

My dad was USAF too. panader0 Feb 2019 #5

Yes, if he was sent to Morocco. MineralMan Feb 2019 #6

aaaack... typhus shot.. I thought they had killed my arm SoCalDem Feb 2019 #70

No fun! MineralMan Feb 2019 #72

In 62 some of us in grad school went to Germany. We got a ton of vaccines. V sore arm! bobbieinok Feb 2019 #9

That's how I found out I was allergic to eggs. OnlinePoker Feb 2019 #15

Regarding plague, I visited Badlands National Park. There are Prairie Dog "villages." 3Hotdogs Feb 2019 #32

Interesting! Basement Beat Feb 2019 #52

Yes. Plague is endemic in burrowing rodents in many places. MineralMan Feb 2019 #55

oh crap we did that!!! well, i sat in the car but my car mates when out.. samnsara Feb 2019 #64

Why service personnel are walking dart boards for the medics. sarge43 Feb 2019 #44

As a young mom snowybirdie Feb 2019 #2

That, too. MineralMan Feb 2019 #4

My first polio vaccine was a sugar cube. Ilsa Feb 2019 #7

I was among the first to get the new vaccine in 1957. MineralMan Feb 2019 #8

They have switched back to the shot because the sugar cube used a live virus pnwmom Feb 2019 #13

Those pix look very much like my elementary school when the shot clinic was held... Hekate Feb 2019 #45

Yup. That scene was repeated everywhere. MineralMan Feb 2019 #47

Your memory of the year is slightly off. PoindexterOglethorpe Feb 2019 #46

Could be. It could have been when I was in fifth grade in 1955. MineralMan Feb 2019 #48

I remember getting the shot in 1954 or 55. dhol82 Feb 2019 #77

Yes. I think I've disremembered my age. MineralMan Feb 2019 #78

I got the shot one year, sugar cube the next time catrose Feb 2019 #82

cube here, too Hermit-The-Prog Feb 2019 #23

The scar likely from a smallpox vaccination, Ilsa Feb 2019 #34

must have been coincidence Hermit-The-Prog Feb 2019 #43

The only scar I have from shots is from the smallpox vaccine dflprincess Feb 2019 #37

The only vaccination that leaves a scar is the smallpox one. PoindexterOglethorpe Feb 2019 #49

Almost died from the mumps - I was a toddler. I have a scar on my neck from the draining tubes. AnotherMother4Peace Feb 2019 #10

In the early 60s curlyred Feb 2019 #11

Me, neither. Scarsdale Feb 2019 #17

All 5 of us got all our vaccinations, no questions asked, and only 1 of us died the day after. pnwmom Feb 2019 #56

The anti-vaccination movement grew out of the fact that there were rare cases pnwmom Feb 2019 #21

I grew up in the shadow of the old polio terror, but the other diseases were expected and 'normal' Chemisse Feb 2019 #12

I don't understand how anyone can not be worried about any childhood illness csziggy Feb 2019 #26

While all the parents knew about the dangers of polio, the others were more uncommon Chemisse Feb 2019 #71

"Childhood diseases" were never trivial -- they just winnowed out children into the graveyard. Hekate Feb 2019 #59

I guess the only way is for the resurgence of disease among the unvaccinated, Chemisse Feb 2019 #73

So true! colorado_ufo Feb 2019 #14

That's what I remember about the measles, too. MineralMan Feb 2019 #19

You just reminded me of the "dark room, shades down" luvtheGWN Feb 2019 #27

I had measles and chicken pox treestar Feb 2019 #16

I got Red Measles, German Measles (rubella) and Chicken Pox TexasBushwhacker Feb 2019 #42

That may be how it became treestar Feb 2019 #57

Yes, beyond toddlerhood TexasBushwhacker Feb 2019 #58

my son likely became sterile from mumps Brainstormy Feb 2019 #86

Glad he adopted TexasBushwhacker Feb 2019 #88

Meanwhile, the CIA set the polio eradication efforts back trying to find Bin Laden in Pakistan OnlinePoker Feb 2019 #18

I remember standing in line in 3rd grade Peacetrain Feb 2019 #20

That's why bdamomma Feb 2019 #22

Tuberculosis is still around, and it has resistance to MineralMan Feb 2019 #24

Frightening that this anti-vax ideology is a thing. This isn't some prehistorical thing where ck4829 Feb 2019 #25

My "Popeye" polio shot in my right benld74 Feb 2019 #28

Now that I'm medicare age I get lots of vaccines. greymattermom Feb 2019 #29

A lot of people do turn those shots down. MineralMan Feb 2019 #30

My father born well before the vaccine ... CatMor Feb 2019 #31

I had Everything when I was a kid montanacowboy Feb 2019 #33

I had a friend whose parents were disabled by polio Danmel Feb 2019 #35

I am 75. I remember the same things Mineral Man remembers appleannie1943 Feb 2019 #36

Yes. People who haven't seen kids with those illnesses MineralMan Feb 2019 #40

When my husband and I showed the kids our ginnyinWI Feb 2019 #65

I think that's the big problem happybird Feb 2019 #79

My mother made them stab my leg too nitpicker Feb 2019 #85

I agree 100% however you also recognize Hamlette Feb 2019 #38

The risks of taking that cute baby in your car to the supermarket MineralMan Feb 2019 #41

there you go, being rational again Hamlette Feb 2019 #89

I can't help myself, I guess. MineralMan Feb 2019 #90

me too Hamlette Feb 2019 #91

If you agree 100%, please don't add 'Yes, but...' Aristus Feb 2019 #61

Kick Demovictory9 Feb 2019 #39

K&R MustLoveBeagles Feb 2019 #50

The really sad thing to me is it is going to take a couple cases of history repeating itself appleannie1943 Feb 2019 #51

The current generation of young parents don't remember MineralMan Feb 2019 #53

It's going to take an epidemic to truly discredit the anti-vax movement, but they won't suffer... ck4829 Feb 2019 #75

Same here. No no vaccines for most of those. MuseRider Feb 2019 #54

I had measles and chickenpox but not mumps Gothmog Feb 2019 #60

Thank you for posting this, MineralMan. Aristus Feb 2019 #62

Like every kid, I hated shots. MineralMan Feb 2019 #68

i remember lining up at the local high school to get a sugar cube with a polio vaccine.. samnsara Feb 2019 #63

mom had polio and it affected her right foot gopiscrap Feb 2019 #66

Yes. People with kids today never experienced those things. MineralMan Feb 2019 #69

Born in '57, I got all my shots. MicaelS Feb 2019 #67

Born in 1946........ woody44 Feb 2019 #74

Thanks for sharing that. MineralMan Feb 2019 #76

My grandfather survived polio in the hills of West Virginia Buckeyeblue Feb 2019 #80

I was a little younger Bettie Feb 2019 #81

Same here customerserviceguy Feb 2019 #83

My story geralmar Feb 2019 #84

Iron lungs! I think I read last year that the last person still MineralMan Feb 2019 #87

Polio is a horrible disease. milestogo Feb 2019 #92