Measles! Whooping Cough! Polio! Sound like diseases of the past? Think again.

The Council on Foreign Relations created an interactive map to demonstrate the comeback of many preventable diseases. The United States has especially seen a resurgence of whooping cough that is making public health specialists scratch their heads.

Here is a statistic to put that into perspective…

Whooping cough affected less than 2,000 people in the early 1980s. In 2013, the prevalence was 24,000 cases, down from 50,000 in 2012.

Despite these re-emerging preventable diseases, many parents still refuse to get their children vaccinated. For some it is religious reasons, some babies can’t get vaccinated because of medical procedures, others fear vaccines cause autism but don’t worry, that was proven false.

In lower-income countries, the question isn’t whether to get vaccinated or not, it is lack of access. In Pakistan, polio epidemics are a public health threat because the Taliban has stopped humanitarian workers providing vaccinations accusing them of being spies.

Regardless of the reason for lack of vaccinations, all regions of the world are experiencing devastating consequences.  

It’s true, no one likes getting shots, but we here at USDemocrazy can guarantee they are a lot better than the symptoms of whooping cough.