Do the risks of vaccination outweigh the benefits?

[AussieNeil]

With CLL predominantly affecting those of us who have gone through life suffering from diseases rarely seen today like polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and whooping cough (pertussis), I guess most of us have seen the benefits associated with vaccinating ourselves and our children. We've seen first hand the real risks of death or permanent disability at worse, or pain, discomfort and a disruption to our usual lifestyle while overcoming a preventable infection. Many in our society do have concerns at the real risks associated with vaccinations and in Australia, we have a vocal group that misleadingly named themselves the Australian Vaccine Information Network . Eventually they fell foul of the relevant government authority and had to rename themselves more correctly the Australian Vaccine-Skeptics Network.

Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology at University of Adelaide was prompted to write the referenced article below, addressing one of this organisation's statements of complaint o the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission in relation to the adverse findings against them:

theconversation.com/vaccine...

Replies to his article included the following interesting references -

Vaccine preventable outbreaks are real - includes a map of vaccine preventable outbreaks for the continents of Europe, Africa and America:

theincidentaleconomist.com/...

Why I vaccinate my kids - from a scientist who’s studied infectious diseases.

scienceblogs.com/aetiology/...

It can't be easy for parents trying to work out whether vaccinating their children is the best decision, given the misinformation around and when there is a small but real risk associated with vaccination. However, they also need to appreciate that their children may escape the much higher risks of their children being permanently affected by contracting once rare childhood diseases precisely because other parents are taking that small risk in vaccinating their children and thereby reducing the risk of exposure to unvaccinated children by what is termed 'herd immunity'.

Neil

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

We are just now experiencing a Measles outbreak, related to parents not vaccinating their children...

so they put everyone else at risk...

Measles makes a comeback

Health officials had virtually eradicated measles from Canada, but the highly-contagious disease is making a resurgence.

Dr. Van Buynder said people aren't taking measles seriously enough and seeking vaccinations, and the effects can be deadly.

"This is the second outbreak in two years in Fraser East. People need to understand that these are nasty diseases and they're coming back to Canada if they don't vaccinate their children," he said.

Fraser Health says children under the age of five are most at risk of serious complications.

cbc.ca/news/canada/british-...

[Hidden]

Thanks for highlighting this Chris, we in Wales have recently suffered from just such an outbreak. I hope yours does not reach the 1,000 ours did. It leaves many with ongoing problems not always reported.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-223...

Bubnjay

[jangreen]

Hi yes in a global city like London it's all too easy to sit next to someone and catch whooping cough or measles or TB. With our immunity it would be catastrophic. Best regards