In recent years many adults - mostly those who were vaccinated in childhood and lived safely under the umbrella of those vaccines - elected NOT to have their children vaccinated as they no longer saw the death and devastation sown by diseases such as small pox (now eradicated..?) and polio.

This led to loss of herd immunity as the numbers of vaccinated persons declined in the face of the rising number of unvaccinated children and now often even adults.

Adults who were not vaccinated and did not suffer from any of the childhood diseases and therefore did not develop natural immunity to these diseases and even a significant number of adults who WERE vaccinated, but had lost their immunity over the years, are now perceptible to what was considered to be 'childhood diseases' of little significance.

Measles has been in the news for some time as it raced across the so-called healthy, developed northern hemisphere and now pertussis is following in its footsteps, nowhere else than in that haven of boredom, Australia. .and, of course, one should never forget that Tetanus immunity also wanes over time and that ALL adults should have a booster dose every five to ten years.

To illustrate the importance of this, the WHO, UNICEF and other partner organisations have recently held European Immunisation Week, an annual region-wide campaign, for children and adults.