Immunisation – protecting our children from disease
Box 5 | A controversial history
Opposition to vaccination in the past
The practice of vaccination has always had its share of controversy. In 1806 John Birch, Surgeon Extraordinary to the Prince of Wales and Surgeon to St Thomas’s Hospital in London, wrote a paper entitled Serious reasons for uniformly opposing the practice of vaccination. He predicted that ‘we shall soon see what yet remains of popular opinion favourable to the cause of [smallpox] vaccination, vanish into thin air’. Instead the disease itself has vanished.
A hundred years later, in 1913, Britain’s National Anti-Vaccination League published a booklet entitled Is vaccination a disastrous delusion? The booklet condemned the practice as ‘a monstrous and indefensible outrage upon the common sense and sacred personal rights of every human being, and especially every Englishman’.
Current opposition to vaccination
Aims to address confusion created by contradictory information in the public domain. It sets out to explain the current situation in immunisation science, including where there is scientific consensus and where uncertainties exist. (Australian Academy of Science)
The issue of vaccination is still controversial. Many developed countries have small groups of people who are anti-vaccination and often highly vocal. Some are parents with a child who has had an illness in the weeks following vaccination, especially with the traditional whooping cough vaccine made from a killed, whole microorganism. The illness may have been caused by the vaccine, or it may have been a coincidence.
Though some may be highly educated, very few in the anti-vaccine lobby have expertise in infectious diseases and immunology. It is entirely appropriate for parents to be concerned about the risks of vaccination, but they must be given the full facts.
The Australian Academy of Science has recently addressed contradictory information in the public domain by publishing The Science of Immunisation: Questions and Answers. It was prepared by a Working Group and Oversight Committee made up of Academy Fellows and other Australian scientists with internationally recognised expertise in immunology.
Major medical bodies support vaccination
All the major medical bodies, including the World Health Organization and national medical associations, have been very strong supporters of vaccination. Some countries such as the USA have formed National Vaccine Advisory Committees, and in the USA unvaccinated schoolchildren are not accepted in schools (with rare exceptions). Particularly in many developing countries, there are national immunisation days when millions of infants and young children are immunised.
The case for carrying out vaccination programs is strengthened by the increasing amount of solid evidence that they work, as exemplified by the smallpox, polio and measles eradication campaigns. The recent outbreaks of whooping cough and measles in Australia show that this country will lose its reputation for high standards of public health unless vaccination coverage is rapidly increased.
Boxes
Box 1. Acquired immunity: The body's second line of defence
Box 2. Smallpox – the eradication of a disease
Box 3. The basics of making a vaccine
Box 4. WHO's Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunization
Related sites
Vaccination information on the web (transcript of ABC radio's The Health Report, 1 July 2002)
Important information for parents: the facts about vaccination (The Skeptic, 5 August 2009)
Public Warning About the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) (New South Wales Government)
6 Common Misconceptions about the Flu–and Flu Shots (by Katherine Harmon, Scientific American, 13 September 2011)
The Lesson of the Fear of Vaccines (by David Ropeik, Scientific American, 18 July 2011)
In the wake of Wakefield: Risk-perception and vaccines ( by David Ropeik, Scientific American, 1 June 2011)
Swine Flu Vaccine--Too Little, Too Late (by The Editors, Scientific American, 23 September 2009)
The Science of
Immunisation: Questions and Answers (Australian Academy of Science, 2012)
Updated November 2012