As children, everyone remembers having to get vaccinated. My first memorable experience with photography occurred at the age of four. I didn't understand why I needed injections. All I knew was that this sharp thing was going to get stuck in my arm and it was going to hurt. Before I received vaccinations at four years old, I received my first set of vaccines, vaccines that people now claim are dangerous. Research shows that vaccination rates have declined. MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) vaccine rates fell from 93.5% to 90.6%, those for tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria fell from 87.2% to 85.4% in 2009 (Kluger) Why are vaccination rates declining so significantly? Pediatrician Dr. Robert Frenck says that "very eloquent and very beautiful movie stars or personalities... are providing information about how harmful vaccines are," people are now relying more on blogs, talk shows and rumor mills for their medical advice. . Today people believe that vaccinations cause autism (Kluger). While there are some legitimate concerns, vaccines are safe because they do not cause autism and have nearly eliminated many diseases. Thanks to vaccines, some diseases are no longer a problem. One of these diseases is smallpox. Because of the movement undertaken in 1967 by the World Health Organization (WHO), many people who could not afford to be vaccinated received the smallpox vaccination. Over a billion doses of smallpox vaccine have been administered. Only ten years later, in 1977, was the last known case of smallpox reported. It happened in Merka, Somalia, with a hospital cook named Ali Maow Maalin ("Ali Maow Maalin survives last case of endemic smallpox"). Due to vaccines, the number of cases of meningitis due to the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) bacterium has increased. ..... middle of paper ......: Autism rumors take over | TIME.com Null, Gary and Martin Feldman. “Some concerns about childhood vaccinations are legitimate.” Should vaccinations be mandatory? Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. In question. Rpt. from "Vaccination: An Updated Analysis of Health Risks: Part 3." Townsend Letter: The Examiner of Alternative Medicine 293 (December 2007): 117-120. Opposing points of view in context. Network. November 7, 2013. Offit, Paul A. “The Risks of Vaccines Are Outweighed by the Risks of Not Getting Vaccinated.” Should vaccinations be mandatory? Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Rpt. from "Common Concerns About Vaccines." Vaccines: what you should know. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web.Pearson, Cam. “How I Gave My Son Autism.” The revolution of thinking mothers. Np, 02 20 2013. Web. 8 December. 2013.