To the Journal editor:

I recently obtained a copy of the “Health Officer’s Record of Dangerous Diseases” for Tilden Township, Marquette County, covering a period 1909-1946.

The number of children who contracted diseases like diptheria, whooping cough, mumps, chicken pox, measles, small pox and polio was sobering, especially now, when medical science has developed vaccines to prevent such diseases and anti-vaccine purveyors spout misinformation causing many parents to not have their children vaccinated.

Upon further realization that Tilden Township is one of 19 townships in Marquette County, the total number of these diseases reported during the same time period would be staggering. And yet, there are those who would take us back to those dark days.