OH, GOODY: Deadly Whooping Cough, Once Wiped Out, Is Back.

I had a column on this subject a while back.

UPDATE: Dr. George Milonas emails: “Again, I repeat myself ad infinitum. Why haven’t the lawyers filed class action lawsuits against these anti vaccine gurus that are scaring parents with autism nonsense? These guys could get billions suing Jenny McCarthy and her evil minions for infecting thousands of innocent children.” If only things worked that way. . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Allen S. Thorpe writes:

Your post on whooping cough reminded me how few modern parents have experienced the horror of those diseases like mumps, measles and especially whooping cough, not to mention diseases that were with us into the early 20th Century like malaria, dysentery, small pox, typhoid fever and polio. We have fought so hard to rid ourselves of these scourges, it should be a priority to support continued production of vaccines and effective antibiotics. I’m in favor of compensating people who can prove that they were harmed by defective vaccines, but that should be determined by qualified experts at the CDC, not by juries moved by tragic stories. Suits against vaccine makers leave out the interest of the public and are therefore a failure of our legal system.

Indeed.