As the number of people who have witnessed firsthand the effects of measles and other childhood diseases – such as mumps, rubella, polio, and whooping cough – has declined, so has society’s commitment to keeping them away. Even after panicked claims that vaccines cause visible conditions like autism were proved to be nonsense, they remain more compelling than the threat of a disease that people have never seen or do not remember.
在美国，疫苗问题的悲剧性矛盾是它成了自身成功的受害者。亲眼目睹麻疹和其他儿童疾病——如流行性腮腺炎、风疹、脊髓灰质炎和百日咳等——影响的人数减少了，社会也不再着力于远离这些疾病。尽管关于疫苗导致孤独症等可见症状的恐慌性说法被证明是毫无根据的，但它们仍是比人们从未见过或已失去记忆的疾病更加紧迫的威胁。