Drawing False Conclusions

Drawing False Conclusions

One common excuse^ we hi ear for not getting

polio shots is that “There’s no reason to worry about polio

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any longer. There were less than 6000 cAses in the whole

United States last year.” The person who says that is wellinformed

on stastics. But the conclusion he draws is dangerously

incorrect. „

Polio did drop off from 28,983 cases i n 1955 to 15,400 in 1956, and then to 5,894 in 1957. But the principal reason for the encouraging drop in incidence was the fact,that millions of* Americans were taking advantage of the protection offered by the salk vaccine. Most of the cases recorded, last year were totally uncessary, the result of failure to vaccinate.

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It is difficult for some people to understand that''they re^ ceive no protection at all from their neighbors vaccination. The protected -neighbor may not get the paralytic disease, but fie'still vis capable of passing the virus on to others. Lulled into a false sense of security,the unvaccinated may walk the streets with no more protection than those who fell victim to the disease during the polio epidemics of tlr. pre-salk »ra.

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Many parents who have been quick to insist upon vaccinations /or their children of school age fail to realize that these same chidren can still bring the disease into the home where- it may find prime targets among infants and adults who have not had the salk shots.

No one can tell how widely the virus will be distributed during the coming months. Certainly, you will not be able to detect its presence in your community. There is only one {to remove yourself and your children from the target area. .*Go to youd doctor or to your polio vaccination clinic and start the three shot series TODAY. Don’t be among those unfortunate people who-waited until it was too late.