Earlier quoted context omitted.
Polio existed in the US within the memories of many people still alive.
There are people still alive today that lived through the Spanish Flu. They are pretty damn old today and they were young then, but there are many more people alive today that lost immediate family members to it and many more that lost extended family members to it. That shit wiped out something like 5% of the world . Yet even in this thread we see people who seem to think that flus are a laughing matter.
I hate that. The spanish flu killed my great grandfather at 28 years of age right of the boat and people tell me "flu vaccine is bs. Vaccines are bs. Flu is a bunch of shit. I'll do fine against any flu.". I don't know. The ignorance bothers me. Most of these people haven't even heard of the Spanish flu much less know it killed around 50 million people including plenty who were very fit, young, and healthy.