Too many celebrities drank the Kool-Aid, and promoted it on talk shows to well-to-do stay at home parents....(It's astounding how a single paper could do so much damage.) The Autism-vaccine "link" is thoroughly refuted, and Wakefield was identified to have a financial interest in this disinformation...One theory on the rise of peanut allergies and the like is that it's to do with hyper-cleanliness. Kids on farms statistically get less allergies than kids in cities...
When I was a kid, we swam in the same pond as the cattle drank from, at the same time. I tried to keep my eyes and mouth closed, but I still got a good dose of E. Coli and faecal coliform. And yes, the old timers say you have to eat a peck* of dirt in your life time....The "too clean when very young" hypothesis regarding allergies continues to find more support. The last I heard they were talking about the age at which a child needs exposure to lots of muck.
*Save the Google search. 1 peck = 1/4 bushel = 15 lbs. (6.8 kg)






