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Parents not given all the facts on vaccination
By Fiona Sugden

OUCH ... Parents have a choice on vaccination
Photo: Will Banks

DOCTORS are misleading parents by claiming childhood vaccination is compulsory, according to Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) president Meryl Dorey.

Ms Dorey said every parent had the right to make an informed choice about whether or not to immunise their child but the government only provided information which advocated vaccinations without highlighting the real dangers.

She said numerous calls to the AVN hotline were made by distressed parents after their child developed encephalitis and other adverse reactions after a vaccination but parents were not being warned about these possibilities.

She said many parents had the false impression basic vaccines such as Measles, Mumps and Reubella (MMR) were mandatory requirements for childcare and school entry and schools should not discriminate against children by excluding them on the grounds of immunisation.

"This should not be an issue because those children who choose not to be vaccinated cannot infect the people that have been vaccinated," she said.

However, Royal Brisbane hospital infectious diseases physician Dr Damon Eisen said it was very dangerous to argue that non-vaccinated people would not have an affect on the majority of the population.

"It is crucial for parents to continue to vaccinate their children, as the number of people who are vaccinated in the community is a very important factor in the prevention of disease," he said.

An Education Queensland spokesperson said schools should accept all students regardless of their vaccination status.

Ms Dorey said live virus vaccinations used for polio, MMR and whooping cough had been found to cause some people to contract the disease. She said 5 per cent of people vaccinated for MMR showed symptoms of the virus.

"Because of the lack of testing in Australia, vaccines are only assumed to be safe, which is unethical and unsafe," she said.

In 1997 two families involved in a Melbourne vaccine trial for acellular whooping cough reported their babies had adverse reactions to the drug.

The families lodged a report with the AVN after they were forced to drop out of the study but their children's reactions were not included in the final research findings.

Ms Dorey said overseas pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, Sharpe and Dohme, and Smith and Kline, chose to test their vaccines in Australia because of its inadequate regulations.

"We rely on testing from the UK and the US where the research is almost always paid for by the pharmaceutical companies or the researchers themselves, who obviously will have vested interests in the products," she said.

"There is nothing separating the way these companies' work from a tobacco company."

Based on her research, Ms Dorey said there was significant evidence to prove live-virus vaccinations could actually cause people to contract the virus.

However, Dr Eisen said these claims were unfounded and only one person out of the millions vaccinated actually had a chance of contracting the disease.

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ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.