Devastating Epidemics~ what HAPPENED to them??

Do we miss them?? Oh, NO!! I received an email from a dear friend expressing his concerns about vaccines. A little flavour of gov't conspiracy was peppered in the information I was given to read & consider.You may already know that I am from a steady line of generations of nurses (given that women who worked in health/medical field in the 1860's were considered nurses).Anyway, my great,great grandmother (Moore) was the town midwife & also cared for the sick in the 'smallpox house' in Plymouth/LArksville, Pa. back in the late 1800's. I checked out what I could find and found that those infected were infected by used clothing sent from relatives from upstate NY. Around the same time(early 1900,s~~ 1909?) "rummage" clothing started a smallpox epidemic in Bayonne, NJ. When was the last time YOU met someone with smallpox? Hmmmmm? ~ I remember getting immunized before I started kindergarten.The World Health Organization (WHO) has so successfully immunized the world that this disease is now eradicated.
Tonight I watched an old movie about Sister Kenny, an Australian nurse who had an effective treatment against some forms of polio.It was a great movie .She came to America and to Jersey City Medical Center when my mom was in nursing school.(My mom brought her birthday cake to her.) When I was small, polio was the big scare, especially during the summer months.My Aunt Rose brought me to the park playground one summer day, let me strip down to my 3 or 4 yr old panties and play in the spray in the wading pool. My mom would have gone nuts! But, I interviewed every child & asked,"Do you have polio ?". Of course every kid said "NO!!"OK~ I was safe (in my 3 or 4 yr old mind). Now, polio was at its' worst in the summer months and spread thru water & contact thru oral/fecal means. I had a child neighbor,'Rhoda' who had polio and was left with a lame leg. Also, my father-in-law, a nursing school mate and a preacher friend all had polio. One day,when I was in first grade(1956) we all stood on line and a doctor gave us a shot in the arm to protect us from polio. Then in 1961 we received the sugar cube boosters.~~ By the way, when was the last time you came across a recent occurrance of polio in THIS country??
Check out the gravestones in OLD cemetaries and take note of the 2 year olds & younger that are laid to rest there.NO immunizations~~~