What was the world like before vaccinations?

While not necessary, vaccination has promoted a better quality of life and has allowed more of us to survive and have children of our own. Our parents and their parents didn't get vaccinated, and a number of us didn't get many of the current vaccines. We missed 7 days or so of school for chickenpox (varicella) and some of us will suffer shingles when that virus resurfaces in us later in life. Our caregivers suffered with us, and stayed away from work, too. We weren't allowed to play outside, go to the movies, or go to camps in the summer until the polio vaccine was deployed. One in 1,000 of our parents' generation who got measles developed brain dysfunction and more kids died in previous eras due to vaccine-preventable diseases.

Because of vaccines, improved sanitation and other public health measures, transmission of polio and rubella has been eliminated in the U.S., and smallpox has been eradicated worldwide. Measles outbreaks periodically occur in under-immunized segments but have almost reached a point of eradication in the U.S.; adding in the second MMR is anticipated to eradicate measles outbreaks over time if 100 percent immunization rates can be achieved. Since 1980, arguably with the rise of these vaccines, we've seen more than an 80 percent decline in hepatitis A, hepatitis B, varicella, and haemophilus influenza type B.