Old problems in today’s world.

In the family annals is the story of how I almost died of whooping cough when I was a toddler. It was made more complicated by the fat that I had diphtheria at the same time. My grandmother is said to have saved my life on more than one occasion by helping me breathe. How she did that is unspecified but that’s the way of family stories.

This was in very early 1950s. It seems it was a regular thing then for diseases to come around almost seasonally - measles, mumps, whooping cough, German measles, they all had their turn. And there was also, of course, polio. 

Then came vaccination against almost everything.

“Before the 1960s, when I guess we really got going with vaccination, there were epidemics every three years or so,” said Adam Finn, a professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol.

And we stopped hearing about these “childhood” illnesses. But they’re back, especially whooping cough, apparently. According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) 10 children have died in the latest outbreak. 

Why is it increasing? Experts say it could be a hangover from restrictions during the Covid pandemic.

“Social distancing and lockdown measures imposed across the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the spread of infections, including whooping cough,” said Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, a consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA.

Finn agreed, noting the restrictions meant fewer whooping cough infections and hence a smaller number of people with immunity. “And that means that when an infection comes, it gets more opportunities to spread,” he said.

Covid is getting the blame for a host of problems. Probably aided by austerity measures and cuts in funding. 

And now pregnant women are being advised to get vaccinated against whooping cough so that their immunity passes on to their babies for the first few months of life, until they are old enough to be vaccinated themselves.

Old problems are coming back to harass us! Again exacerbated by austerity and cuts in funding. 

And media attention. 

Here’s a cartoon by Ben Jennings about another old problem that is causing havoc all over the country.

Yesterday evening apparently masses of anti-racist protesters were out letting everyone know that the racist thugs can’t take over. 

Somewhere I still have an Anti-Nazi League badge from the 1970s. 

For a brief time, we thought things were getting better. We wait to see how things work out this time.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!