Skepticism, Science & Pseudoscience

who is completely freaked out over another influenza pandemic such as the one in 1918, I point out that we wash our hands pretty regularly these days. A hundred years ago some huge percentage of people did not have access to running water.

And if you go back to the Middle Ages in Europe, peasants commonly lived with their livestock.

Which is not an argument against vaccines, but people need to understand clearly how much is different from earlier eras. Head lice and body lice were so common that they simply weren't remarked upon. In the Middle Ages people would go for months and years without bathing or changing their clothes. I recently read that when Thomas a Becket was murdered, his clothing moved after he was still, because it was so infested with lice. Great image, huh?