Replies

however, when you read statistics you will note that THOUSANDS of kids died from these "childhood diseases"

One of the newer vaccines, in this country, is for Chickenpox. It came out in Japan c. 1970, but took a long time to become approved here. Chickenpox in children is rarely a serious illness, although in older folks or the immunosuppressed it can be serious. It just makes most kids itchy, spotty and mediocre feeling for a few days. But schools, daycare, babysitters, etc. want nothing to do with those kids until the rash is over so mom or dad had to take time off work and be a parent. Expensive! The vaccine when first released here was sold as cheaper than the otherwise inevitable sick child. However, the national annual chickenpox death toll has fallen a lot since vaccination for it has become common. Vaccines save lives, a couple hundred a year with chickenpox in the US, a lot more with others. Admittedly the ideal used of vaccination is to eradicate the disease world wide and remove the small price and minuscule risks of vaccinating for it. We accomplished that with smallpox (fingers are crossed.) We would have accomplished it with polio by now if not for muslim anti-vaccination fanatics in a couple parts of the world. We did manage to eradicate one of polio's three strains. Measles was to be the next eradication target.

We need the Saudi's to start manufacturing vaccines "made in Mecca" for the recalcitrant parts of the world that are reflexively anti-US and issue Fatwas requiring their use. Their royal family is well aware of the risk hosting the hajj poses in spreading epidemics to their general population and should support such out of their own self interest. We may even need the FDA to allow importing such for certain recalcitrant US populations, such as Mpls.