Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

JohnnyUtah_QB1 t1_iwwbe26 wrote

Reply to comment by VaIeth in As measles outbreak sickens dozens of children in Ohio, local health officials seek help from CDC | CNN by Surly_Cynic

A West African born slave named Onesimus taught the practice of inoculation to his ignorant Boston owner in the 1720s when epidemics regularly swept through the colonies killing scores(this form of inoculation was the precursor to vaccines and works on similar principles).

When his owner tried to promote the practice he was met with vitriol, getting a brick thrown through his window and having papers like the New England Courant basically read like Fox News irrationally frothing at the mouth at the whole idea. By the end of the outbreak the 280 inoculated members of Boston suffered 6 deaths(2.2%) whereas 850 of 5900 non-inoculated patients died(14%)

Half a century later General George Washington unilaterally ordered the inoculation of his troops without seeking permission in part because there was still a significant contingent of the Continental Congress against the practice, with some colonies still outlawing it. He wanted to keep the operation secret from the British, but he also didn’t want to deal with clowns in Philadelphia getting dumb about it.

Unfortunately history suggests we are just this stupid as a species. Even hundreds of years ago it was still the same story

7

LaLionneEcossaise t1_iwwimwd wrote

A former coworker didn’t want her child to get the polio series because “no one gets polio!” I tried explaining that the reason so few people get polio is because the vaccine prevents it, but she was certain her “facts” were correct.

2

JohnnyUtah_QB1 t1_iwx9u0d wrote

It’s so bizarre. Humans have been successfully using “injections” to protect against disease for at least a thousand years,(back then it was live virus and human pus, today it’s highly refined and engineered nanomachines)

Like these people exist in a different reality, just total ignorance of all their own ancestors learned, destined to repeat the same obvious mistakes.

2