News & Media
Don’t Turn Back the Clock on Childhood Immunizations in Michigan
By Rose M. Ramirez, MD, MSMS President
In 1948, the Michigan State Medical Society produced a short film called "Lucky Junior," that detailed and demonstrated the miracles being offered children in the 1940s through the development of new and lifesaving immunizations.
The old black-and-white video offers a fascinatingly unique look at how a long time ago people recognized and tackled a problem -- and made a difference.
Two generations ago, surviving vaccine-preventable diseases might have taken a stroke of "luck." Our parents, grandparents and their physicians saw that children were dying from too many preventable diseases. They took action and saved thousands of lives. Whether in 1948 or 2016, that's what physicians do. That's what parents do.