January 7, 2022
When my fellow baby boomers had children in elementary school, the classroom was often referred to as a petri dish where every known contagion was circulating. Kids brought it all home, and home became its own petri dish of contagious diseases. The adults took the contagions to work. Teachers encouraged parents to keep their sick children at home to protect their classmates and stop the spread. Employers urged the sick to protect their co-workers, take their sick leave and stay at home. The phenomenon of contagion seemed to be grasped by the vast majority.
What happened? How, in a substantial segment of society, did we lose our understanding of contagion? How, in a substantial segment of society, did the personal responsibility to protect others be replaced by the “freedom” to endanger others?
Voluntarily staying home — a matter of personal responsibility — was not the only mitigating measure. Schools remained open but only the vaccinated could attend, and the early years classroom became the gatekeeper for preventing disease spread. Smallpox vaccines were still given. Mandated polio, measles, mumps and rubella vaccines eliminated these terrible diseases. Without question, these were grand advances for the sciences and scientifically-informed public health policy.
Read more at the Kansas City Star.