Marie Scherer’s life in an iron lung — and what it should teach us”

Marie Scherer’s obituary from 24 Mar 1981 Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, NJ)

From the start of the Trump regime, with the appointment of vaccine denier Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services, the proven science of vaccination efficacy has been under attack.

In place of a federal government that once marshalled resources behind mass vaccination campaigns, we now face a ruthless regime of science denial that will put millions of Americans — and people in other countries — at risk of dying from preventable diseases.

We’ve already seen more measles cases in the US this year than were recorded over the past four decades. This is a direct consequence of a government that is making people doubt what should be crystal clear. Vaccines save lives.

Now, another vaccine denier hand-picked by RFK Jr. to head the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, Kirk Milhoan, is actually raising false doubts about the need for polio vaccines.

In a podcast interview, Milhoan questioned whether the vaccine was needed.

“As you look at polio, we need to not be afraid to consider that we are in a different time now than we were then,” he said. “Our sanitation is different, our risk of disease is different and so that those all play into the evaluation of whether this is worthwhile of taking a risk for a vaccine or not.”

Polio has been all but eradicated in the US today. Almost no one gets polio, because of widespread herd immunity among the virtually 100% vaccinated universe of Americans. What the anti-vaxxers don’t tell you is that if you stop vaccinating, dormant diseases can come roaring back. Ask South Carolina health providers about the measles outbreak there.

If you need to imagine a world without polio vaccines, let me introduce you to Marie Scherer.