September 26, 2006 8:58PM 

# It’s Getting Better All the Time (contd.) 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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The Washington Post has [a 12-inch story](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/25/AR2006092500528.html) on Tuesday with this headline:

> Freshman from Arlington
> 
> 
> Comes Down With Mumps

Is that news? When I was a kid back in the benighted 60s, everyone got mumps. Why is it news today? Because now we have vaccines, and kids don’t get mumps any more. So it’s actually *news* when somebody gets “the mumps, a highly contagious viral disease.” Sounds bad when you put it that like that, but it seemed a standard part of growing up a generation ago.

According to [this timeline](http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/immunizations/immunization_timeline.html), a vaccine was licensed in 1967, and an improved one in 1971. And since then, I guess, nobody gets mumps. Another reminder of why paying a high percentage of our income for medical care is not exactly a bad thing.

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) 

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