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FeedA Shot in the Arm
We’re heading into flu season again, and everyone is lining up for their annual vaccination. The H1N1 swine flu is adding a new level of worry this year, but even so, the stakes are lower than they used to be.
These photos, for example, show a 1929 diphtheria immunization campaign by the Hawaii State Department of Health in Honolulu schools. At the time, it was a serious concern: According to Wikipedia, there were an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 cases of diphtheria per year in the United States in the 1920s, causing 13,000 to 15,000 deaths per year.
Luckily, vaccination efforts such as this one were enormously successful—today, the disease is all but unheard of. (There were only three reported cases in the U.S. between 2000 and 2007.)
Photos: Hawai‘i State Archives
Posted on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 in History | Permalink
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