9. Return Of Infectious Diseases
First things first, vaccines are
so effective at controlling disease, that we have managed to eradicate a number of infectious diseases in developed countries. However, due to a surge in the anti-vax movement Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) have
made a comeback, helped along by the many high-profile celebrity anti-vaxxers (including a woman who regularly injects herself with
one of the most dangerous toxins know to man) who are no more qualified to advise you on medical matters than
my brain-damaged cat. Measles is currently back on the scene, with lots of public health officials seriously concerned about the rates of the disease in New York. Mumps is also making a comeback, generally surfacing in universities, with large outbreaks numbering in their thousands. Many of these diseases are being
brought in to the country from which they have been eradicated by unvaccinated children visiting foreign countries. It would be all very well if we could eradicate a disease and simply remove the need for vaccinations, but this is unfortunately not how the world works. There are people who
can't get vaccinated even if they want to, whether that is thought age, sickness or poverty, which brings us one to something called "herd immunity".
