To immunize or not to immunize, that is the question.

I've been following the measles immunization discussions on TV over the last few weeks and I must say I tend to lean heavily toward the "do immunize" point of view.  I didn't realize that the MMR vaccine was first used about 1971, the year my son was born, but I do remember that both of my children did get those series of shots with no ill effects.  But I think that the depth of my feeling that children should be immunized stems from memories of my youth.  It wasn't measles but polio that was the really scary possibility back then. People ended up in iron lungs or with paralyzed limbs.  I had a girlfriend in 5th grade with a shrunken arm from polio and one of my uncles spent most of his adult life in a wheelchair because of polio.  So it's not surprising that when Jonas Salk's polio vaccine was introduced, my mother made sure we were right there getting that miraculous protection which, as I recall, was given to us on sugar cubes. We stood in long lines at school to get that magic protection and my mother was pretty sure that Dr. Salk was destined for sainthood.
I'm not suggesting that measles is in any way comparable to polio, but it can sometimes have deadly consequences so why not prevent it if you can?