Woster: Before vaccines, we earned immunity the hard way

Woster: Before vaccines, we earned immunity the hard way

I grew up in South Dakota in the 1950s, a time when vaccines weren’t available for many childhood illnesses. Any immunity I had as a schoolboy to things like measles, mumps and chickenpox, I received by catching the disease and suffering through it. I don’t know why anyone would willingly go through that process if a vaccine was available to prevent it. I wouldn’t have. I’ve been thinking about those early years in recent times. Every so often, …