It is just short of 70 years since the world started on the childhood infectious diseases revolution of change that meant parents knew a child would no longer need to face the likelihood of smallpox, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.
The eradication of smallpox from the UK had occurred before the second world war, yet it remained in several countries across the world.
The severe outbreak in Dewsbury, Yorkshire in 1904 would have concentrated people’s minds on getting the smallpox vaccine. In this outbreak, 20% of people who caught smallpox died and others lost their sight, as it can cause blindness in some. Those who survived were often left with life-long scarring known as ‘pox-marks’ or ‘pock-marks’, and the trauma of surviving a deadly disease.
Despite lots of exposure to this unkind virus, the mandatory vaccination of all Dewsbury council workers who helped to contain this complex outbreak prevented them from getting infected. Those who were unvaccinated, often in densely populated housing in the town, did become infected and many died. Clear evidence to this West Yorkshire population of the effectiveness of being immunised to prevent infections and their consequences.
The reality is that vaccines protect from infection; infections that cause life-changing harms to many people, often affecting large numbers of people in the same time period, as seen in COVID-19 across the world.
The polio challenge
No wonder, with the UK polio outbreaks of 1947 and intermittent recurrences in the following decade affecting many, that this virus infection was seen with great fear amongst adults and children. Many in Yorkshire will have known of family members with polio in that decade. Some will have worked with patients stuck in an ‘iron lung’ for weeks or months. In fact, cases of post-polio syndrome are still emerging years later from the 1990s to date. In Yorkshire, polio sufferers of the 1950s developed long-term health consequences and movement disability.
The American public used to know of post-polio syndrome from US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was affected by polio as an adult and who became increasingly wheelchair bound over two decades. It was well documented in pictures and films, although now it may well be forgotten.
US immunisation scientist, Dr Jonas Salk, saw his polio three-jab programme started in 1955-57. Initially, in the UK there was not enough vaccine at the start of the 1950’s coverage campaign; a challenge for the unvaccinated families, and especially their children. Immunisation became easier when the Sabin vaccine arrived, partly as it was easier to administer to children, since drops on a sugar cube is much ‘nicer’ than a ‘jab’ despite the promise of a Smartie or Malteser sweet afterwards.
Polio gradually disappeared and was eradicated almost worldwide.
What would the 1950s think of 2025?
Imagine now, 70 years later, looking back to that period of intensive research both in the UK and US into vaccine research, and when the polio vaccine was especially supported by public funding. And imagine the surprise that this life-changing method of disease prevention is now being increasingly questioned by the very country that developed some of these childhood vaccines.
2025 saw the curious arrival of US government policy of uncertainty and misinformation about vaccines. The role of vaccines is being queried and there is more vaccine hesitancy, leading to the emergence of rising infection and expensive ill-health.
A curious real-time experiment that is salutary but distressing is unfolding with the present US approach to measles immunisation. The country is unwisely revisiting the hard evidence of what happens when measles herd immunity falls. Perhaps a more primitive approach, the US is relying on children infecting each other rather than using vaccine-safer herd immunity . Children infecting each other to boost immunity is helpful if there are minimal negative health outcomes. However, measles is different otherwise why invest in research and develop vaccines.
Measles revisited: the health impact
Figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 2025 show over 2144 registered cases of measles, with 24 international visitors contracting measles while in the US. There have been three recorded deaths, including ‘Daisy’, an eight-year-old from a Mennonite Community in the state of Texas. Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations provided an excellent opportunity for the virus to spread, with South Carolina dealing with over 30 cases from one single church activity.
Of the 11% of US cases requiring hospitalisation, the CDC 2025 data shows a 25% (1 in 4) chance that a child / young person under the age of 19 will need hospital treatment. That is a lot of health care bills in the US.
Sadly, measles can also mean that some children will progress with a disabling and slowly-killing post-measles encephalitis over months to years. I saw two such cases working in the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s: a long road of grief and exhaustion for the parents and siblings. Today, it is entirely avoidable and no longer seen.
The cost of measles
This curious experiment raises interesting questions. Economically, can the US people, families particularly, afford the health care cost, given that one in five children under the age of five with measles will require in-patient care? On 1 December 2025, US Senator Bernie Saunders once again shared figures showing that 553,000 US citizens went bankrupt, (similar figures to the 500,000 reported on in 2024) due to health care costs. Health insurance premiums will surely rise as the growth in measles and other infectious disease cases increases, and of course Medicare cover (of health care costs) looks to be reducing for a range of reasons. A double challenge…….
If 24 international visitors became infected in 2025, then is it not wise to ensure that all children and adults visiting the US are fully immunised to protect against common infectious diseases? A stay in hospital is not what a UK child not fully immunised against measles would want from their family trip to Disney World. In fact, overseas visitors may baulk at visiting the ‘spotty disease’ country. Certainly, it would be more than wise to ensure full vaccination, or not to visit at all given travel health insurance costs. Disneyland Paris may seem much more attractive and less risky, with less air travel. The FIFA World Football Cup 2026 due to be played in the USA also presents a range of interesting challenges, including health ones too.
Turning back the health clock
Do we really want to turn the clock back to an era when measles was common and children being unwell meant a parent (usually the mother) had to be at home? Perhaps, even in the mid-20th century, the mother was often not in work, but these days it is common for both parents to need to be working.
The impact is then also going to be felt in the workplace, as the numbers of measles cases increase, each with an average recovery time of around 5-14 days. The same applies to other infectious diseases, where there is often the additional need for quarantine periods to avoid spreading the infection to others.
Watch the experiment and the statistics and grieve for the children. Maybe ask why such unnecessary suffering is being not just permitted but encouraged, how long before the experiment will stop, and how many more deaths will there be? The answer my friend “is blowing in the wind”. In the meantime, measles cases in the US continue to rise. Do explore the map of spread 2024 and 2025 for specific state-by-state cases if planning a trip to the US, especially with children in the family.
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