Certain health targets required for school

Vaccines have done such a good job controlling diseases in the United States and other developed countries that parents sometimes forget what life would be like without them, says Chickasaw County Public Health Director Kathy Babcock.Current and past vaccination programs have now controlled 10 major infectious diseases. Many diseases are still rampant in the world and developing countries, except for small pox, which can mean a comeback anywhere that vaccines have been delayed or stopped.History has stated that mumps has contributed to over 680,000 cases in children and adults in 2012 and 122,000 deaths from measles, along with 195,000 deaths from whooping cough, medically known as pertussis. Iowa has seen outbreaks of pertussis, measles and mumps, and some deaths have resulted from these.County Public Health Director Kathy Babcock contributed to this story.— For more on this story, see the Aug. 3 New Hampton Tribune.