Compulsory vaccinations: Where do we draw the line?

[YarnAddict]

47. A lot has changed

The thing about getting the childhood diseases is that you then have total, lifelong immunity, and in later life, like when you are pregnant, you don't have to wonder if that 95% effective MMR vaccine includes you.

Ironically, the only exception I can think of is chicken pox, because a reactivation of the virus can cause shingles, which can be very serious for a very long time.

I got "German measles" in the spring of 1963. I was seven. My mom, sister, aunt, uncle, and I had gone to see my grandma for Mother's Day. My dad stayed home because he had to work. We had traveled from central Wisconsin to South Dakota.

I remember that when we got there I didn't feel great. I laid down on my grandma's bed to take a nap, and when I woke up, I was covered with spots. I don't think I was too sick, because I can remember being up and playing with my sister. I had to wear sunglasses inside the entire time, which I hated. Just after we had left from home, my friend's parents had called my dad to tell them that their daughter had measles, so he knew I had been exposed and thought he was going to have to go out to South Dakota to pick us up, but that didn't happen. I do remember that on the way home I puked all over the back seat of my uncle's brand new car, but that's the only time I remember getting physically sick.

I am also very certain that I didn't see a doc at all.