Exhibit 498752 In The Case For Vaccination

This story takes place a few years before the first whooping cough booster is released in the USA. The initial vaccine wears off in your teen years, and you are susceptible to pertussis again.

This happens in an English class discussing the historical context of a story. The atmosphere is very laid back.

Teacher: “…but diseases like whooping cough aren’t around anymore, so nobody can get them. They’re all gone.”

Me: “That’s actually not true. We’ve only ever eradicated smallpox, but you can still get whooping cough and pretty much everything else. I had whooping cough this past spring.”

Teacher: “You probably had ‘barking cough.’ It’s similar, but it’s not as bad.”

Me: “No, I’m 100% sure it was whooping cough.”

Teacher: *Condescendingly* “And how do you know?”

Me: “Because the [County] Board of Health came to our house and stuck swabs up my family’s noses and tested them for whooping cough, and then they put us under semi-quarantine for a week after starting treatment.”

Teacher: “Oh.”