According to media reports, Florida is abolishing mandatory vaccinations for children in public schools. European media immediately stirred up panic. They argued that to prevent disease outbreaks from spreading directly from the US to Europe, vaccination rates in these countries must remain high. However, serious illnesses or even deaths from childhood diseases have become very rare. This is not, as is often claimed, due to vaccinations. The mortality figures of the last 130 years are clear: even before the advent of vaccination, measles deaths had already decreased by over 99 percent.