When I visit one of the Valley’s old cemeteries and see little headstones with concrete lambs on them, it’s hard not to weep. Nearby there may be others for brothers and sisters or parents, who all died within a few days of one another.

A disease that once wiped out many families was diphtheria. The D in a DPT shot is for diphtheria, a deadly, communicable disease which now is uncommon here, not thanks to good luck but to inoculation programs. Its germs are still sneaking around in our country, and it’s active in others that are undeveloped.

A worldwide effort eradicated the scourge of smallpox only a few years ago. That’s the one, plus measles, that decimated Native American tribes with no immunity to the new diseases. Polio, which was rampant when I was young, is on the run now as a result of the Salk vaccine and coordinated efforts, though it still is present in a few countries lacking well-coordinated efforts.

I believe that unless a verifiable medical reason can be shown, failure to immunize children properly should be considered a criminal offense because of endangerment to the health and lives of others. But there are cults and devotees of social media who believe it is just bad luck or an act of God when an un-vaccinated child gets sick and dies from a communicable disease or others get infected in a chain of innocent victims.

Measles? It can do a lot more than causing a little fever and a rash while your kid enjoys staying home from school and playing video games for a few days. Measles can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis, and death. At present in Europe, measles has increased 400 percent, mainly because of people who have not been vaccinated. If it is not controlled, the disease will soon be increasing here too.

Think realistically about communicable diseases. If you are on a plane or in school, in a gym or a church, you might be exposed to a carrier. If you have not had your shots, you yourself might well be a host, unbeknownst. A lot of opportunistic communicable diseases besides measles are just waiting for you to come along, such as whooping cough (that’s pertussis, the P in DPT), mumps, rubella, chicken pox shingles, hepatitis, pneumonia, flu. Or perhaps a rusty nail and tetanus (the T in DPT) will get you.   

Flu season? As much as possible, I’ll be avoiding anyone with the slightest sniffle, public meetings, offices, stores, restaurants, and anywhere else with crowds, and I hope you will to whatever extent it is possible. How teachers and pupils with runny noses make it is challenging, to say the least.

Washing hands well and often is one defense that we often hear. We also avoid shaking hands and offer a warm smile instead of a hand. Have you ever watched speakers and politicians shaking one germy hand after another, or even doctors greeting patients? No thanks.

Have you ever wondered why royal princesses wear gloves and carry their little clutches firmly in front of their tummies or why princes keep their hands behind their backs? I’m convinced their reason is to avoid any necessity to shake the hands of the unwashed crowds of people. Curtsies are cleaner and safer.

To be safe yourself, be sure to get your shots and keep them up to date, a task that might be a challenge if you have failed to keep records. Hopefully, your doctor’s office knows an appropriate schedule for inoculations and will mention them.

If, however, you are flat broke and have no doctor, visit the office of your county’s public health nurse, who can provide some of the common shot sand also good information about Healthy Communities and the Colorado Public Health Department. 

Every county in Colorado, including the San Luis Valley’s, has a public health nurse. If you don’t know where to find the office, check a phone book’s listing for Health Department. Or google your county’s name, followed by Public Health Service. Or read the  newspaper flyer with local health resources that is printed from time to time.

Above all, remember the adage: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.