The strangler.

Last year I picked up a book on medical satire from 1915 from a bookfair for $4.  I was already pretty stoked.  (More on that book later hopefully).

Then I found this inside.

My stoked-o-meter officially went through the roof.

Paralysed

The other day I recieved a terrifying notification via email, advising me to be alert for evidence of polio in returned travellers.  This is due to upheaval in Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan and a growing global antivaccination sentiment.  A crying shame as only a few short years ago we were incredibly close to declaring this planet polio free, an incredible legacy to pass onto our children.

In her day job your author does her best to see as many children as possible immunised against deadly diseases just like this one.  Now she will use this little hobby of hers to remind whatever audience she has exactly why vaccinations are so important.

Mother and Child: Vera Scantlebury Brown

Dear Readers: I must apologise for my long absence.  I have been very busy having recently produced a Baby Turkey and then attempting not to kill said Baby Turkey.  Fortunately it's more difficult than it seems.

Thankfully in the ongoing endevour to keep my offspring alive I have been assisted by many individuals some of whom are the marvellous freely available maternal and child health nurses here in Australia.  In honour of them I thought today we might talk about an Australian doctor who was instrumental in helping to set up that public health service many years ago, Vera Scantlebury-Brown.

Vera Scantlebury was born in 1889 in rural Victoria. Her father was a country doctor, and he and her mother raised all their children to believe in the importance of educational attainment, regardless of sex.