If you're hell-bent on worrying about getting a disease, though, fear not—there are plenty to go around. I asked infectious disease experts on which pathogens they found most frightening. Here's what they said:
1. Influenza: the flu kills 36,000 people every year and sends about 200,000 to the hospital. In a typical year, only a third of Americans get flu vaccines.
2. HPV: A staggering 79 million Americans—more people than live in California, Texas, and Illinois combined—are currently infected with human papillomavirus, which can cause cancers of the cervix, vulva, anus, head, and neck. In 2013, just 38 percent of teen girls and 14 percent of boys had received all three shots.
3. Measles: This year's spike in cases has been largely due to unvaccinated people. The CDC notes: "90 percent of all measles cases in the United States were in people who were not vaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
4. Antibiotic-resistant infections:
5. Foodborne illness: Pathogens in our food such as E. coli, salmonella, listeria, campylobacter, and norovirus annually sicken one in six Americans, send 128,000 to the hospital, and kill 3,000.
So the take-away message is that stupid people, who don't vaccinate themselves or their kids, are causing far more deaths than this ebola outbreak could even come close to doing. You want to get worked up or outraged about this, how about telling the next person you meet, or someone you know, who refuses to get immunized for the flu or their kids against measles or HPV that they are hypocrites if they are worried about an ebola outbreak.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
Good points. Just go back to the past with all the people suffering from polio, smallpox, and other dread diseases. Vaccines are probably the best money ever spent to help out humanity.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
It was only a few decades ago that more Americans died from infectious disease than anything else. Do you really want to go back to those days? Or do you really want to let millions of children risk dying because whack job parents are incorrect?
Congrats, the Taliban are on the same page. The Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan also try to prevent vaccination of at-risk populations.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
FredHayek wrote: It was only a few decades ago that more Americans died from infectious disease than anything else. Do you really want to go back to those days? Or do you really want to let millions of children risk dying because whack job parents are incorrect?
Congrats, the Taliban are on the same page. The Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan also try to prevent vaccination of at-risk populations.
Straw man much? I did not say I wanted to prevent it. Do you think we have millions of whack job parents?
I think the Feds need to buy virus proof Bane masks. It may not keep us safe, but we will sound very cool. 
