I really, really don't want to start a flame war here, and I'm trying very hard not to make any statements about any individuals or even groups of individuals. I thought my framing of it was pretty even-handed, but fair enough.

I wasn't aware that there were any serious effective alternatives to vaccination (besides living in a sterile bubble) and I just did a quick search. Obviously it has been only the most superficial look, but I'm seeing things like homeopathy and acupuncture recommended (as well as changes in diet, which I think is very optimistic indeed when confronted with the horrors of Polio), and at risk of offending, I'm still not convinced there are any effective alternatives. Of course, it was only a brief search, so I'm by no means stating that there aren't any; just that they're not in the top of the google list :)

However, this is at risk of turning into an off-topic digression and, even worse, one of those vaccer vs. anti-vaccer flame wars.

Back on topic, go go Bill Gates. If he decides to spend his fortune killing a disease, I for one will consider the years of putting up with MS Windows an extremely good deal.

I bet I wasn't careful enough and I've sparked a war now. :(