Sunday, February 24, 2008

Part of an International Experiment

This isn't from my school, PS 46, Bayside, NY, but...


we, too, got those very early polio vaccines as soon as they were available.
I know it's not my school, because we all lined up in the gymnasium, and we were a very full, over-crowded school. There were five classes in my grade, and we had double-sessions in Kindergarten, First Grade and Second Grade. We weren't such a mottley crew. The school shown here looks more rural. Of course, I may be wrong.
My generation was vaccinated in these massive efforts many times. First the injections, then the "sugar water," if I remember correctly. We had it all, a bunch a lab rats we were.
About twenty or more years ago, there was a polio panic here in Israel, and the medical authorities decreed that everyone between certain ages must be vaccinated. Of course they made their decisions according to the vaccination history of Israel. I was in that age group, but refused.
I had always claimed that there was so much of the polio virus in my system, that one more vaccination would give me the disease.

2 comments:

Leora said...

Batya,

Good for you for asking questions. We don't know enough about vaccines. And in America, there is a lot of pressure only to do certain studies.

I noticed some good vaccines studies are done by Israeli scientists. Maybe because Israel is not a lawsuit-happy society, like the U.S.
If someone showed that vaccines have actually caused damage instead of helping, who would get sued? Scary question. But even scarier to keep assuming vaccines are benign.

Batya said...

For years I joked about the amount of Polio virus that must be in my system. Luckily our local doctor agreed with me.

My daughter said that they no longer give the live vaccine orally. It's considered too dangerous for those who take care of the babies.