If the scar on their relatives' arms are from polio vaccinations their relatives should have sued their health care provider. The scar should be from the smallpox vaccination. Most of your students probably have no idea what smallpox is - they may think it is another name for chickenpox and about the same seriousness. Although most of my students are non-traditional and work in health care they have no idea what smallpox is or that it was eradicated before 1980. The World Health Organization now has a campaign to eradicate polio. It is an interesting class exercise to ask the students how you might eradicate a disease and what would be needed to verify that it had been eradicated. Joyce Morris Public Health Sciences Wichita State University
