Group takes aim at shots. No immunity from shots. Health guards need shot in arm. VACCINE'S EFFECTIVENESS QUESTIONED.

Vaccine suspect in autism. Claims of bullying in immunisation row.

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Group takes aim at shots. 210 words 7 June 2000 Herald-Sun HERSUN 19 English (c) 2000 Herald and Weekly Times Limited THE Australian Vaccination Network, a group of volunteers with alternative views on vaccination, says parents must be left to decide what's best for their children. Of spokeswoman Wendy Lydall's two children, Chandra, 17, has been vaccinated only against polio; Kenneth, 12, has not been vaccinated at all. "Just because you vaccinate your child, it does not mean they aren't going to get the disease," Ms Lydall said. Both children were born in South Africa during polio outbreaks. "There was an (epidemic, even amongst children who had been fully immunised," Ms Lydall said. The children have since had measles, chicken pox, rubella and Chandra had whooping cough. Apart from the need to get a doctor's certificate for the measles, Ms Lydall said it was unnecessary to call a doctor. "My children were not in any danger and a GP would just tell you to give them paracetamol," she said. "This is what doctors are trained to do." Ms Lydall recently stopped her son having a tetanus shot after he broke his jaw. She believes the serum contains high levels of antibodies which could cause auto-immune diseases. Ms Lydall said if Kenneth got tetanus, she would cure him using a homeopathic remedy. Document hersun0020010808dw6700jol

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No immunity from shots. By TIM JAMIESON. 196 words 7 June 2000 Herald-Sun HERSUN 10 English (c) 2000 Herald and Weekly Times Limited MISGUIDED parents are putting the public at risk by refusing to immunise their children, doctors warned yesterday. Families of more than 10,000 children have been stripped of childcare assistance for failing to vaccinate their children. The Federal Government has launched a review to discover how many refused compared with those who forgot or had difficulty having children immunised. The Australian Vaccination Network, a voluntary body set up to advise parents on alternatives, said parents had been deliberately misled into vaccinating children. "Parents have been bullied into immunising their children and have not been told the truth about the law," spokeswoman Wendy Lydall said. She said families had been told their children would not be able to go to school and they could not claim welfare benefits. "They accept what the drug companies are saying and do not take the trouble to find information for themselves." Victoria's Human Services immunisation program manager Rosemary Lester said objectors might not have been given all the facts. "Once you look at the benefits and compare these to the risks there isn't really any argument," Dr Lester said. VACCINE fight, P19. Document hersun0020010808dw6700jmy

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Health guards need shot in arm. 142 words 19 September 2000 The Australian AUSTLN 32 English (c) 2000 Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd AGAIN the Australian Government is a day late and a dollar short in protecting the health of its citizens. Two years ago, New Zealand banned blood donations from people in danger of transmitting CJD. What did Australia do? Nothing! One year ago, the US withdrew from use the Hepatitis B vaccine containing mercury because it had the potential to cause brain damage in infants. What did Australia do? Worse than nothing - we introduced this very vaccine into the infant schedule! Our government and our Minister for Health have shown time and again that when it comes to ensuring Australians have the best and safest medicines and vaccines, they are asleep at the wheel. John Howard and Dr Wooldridge, wake up while you still have a population to govern. MERYL W. DOREY President The Australian Vaccination Network. Document austln0020010804dw9j003hj

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VACCINE'S EFFECTIVENESS QUESTIONED. 176 words 15 February 2000 The Christchurch Press THEPRE 5 English (c) 2000 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News Sir-I am appalled at the misinformation in your article, Upset mother in immunisation plea (February 2). This is not a case of a mythical unvaccinated child infecting a poor little vaccinated child with whooping cough. This is a case of a vaccinated baby either not being protected by the vaccine or, even worse, contracting whooping cough from the vaccine. It is heartbreaking to see the child sick, and no parent would like that to happen, but the fact is that the vaccine given to the child did not protect him. In addition, it exposed him to a greater risk of developing asthma in later life, has increased his risk of developing diabetes, certain cancers, and a multitude of other auto-immune illnesses, and has possibly weakened his immune system. I hope that Jaxon will soon be well, but please place the blame where it belongs - with the vaccine that was ineffective. MERYL W. DOREY, president The Australian Vaccination Network, Inc Bangalow, NSW February 6, 2000. (c) The Christchurch Press, INL 2000. Document thepre0020010818dw2f0043t

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Vaccine suspect in autism. By SARAH STOCK. 259 words 22 April 2000 The Australian AUSTLN English (c) 2000 Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd THE combined mumps, measles and rubella vaccine could be responsible for autism in young children and needs to be investigated, according to an international researcher. John O'Leary, director of pathology at the Coombe Women's Hospital in Dublin and a virus detection expert, has told the US Government he found the measles virus in the stomachs of 24 out of 25 children who developed autism after a normal infancy. Professor O'Leary said the virus could have come from the combined vaccine, prompting the US Government to order its health department to investigate whether measles vaccination is linked to autism. The vaccine, administered to Australian children at 12 months and four years of age, has been widely credited in Australia for significantly reducing the number of measles outbreaks and deaths since its inception. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance deputy director Peter McIntyre said the subject of whether the vaccine was linked to autism had been studied intensively in the past two years. He said when the studies covered children across a broad section of populations they did not find an association between the vaccine and autism. Australian Vaccination Network Incorporated spokeswoman Meryl Dorey said that in the US and the UK autism rates had risen by up to 800 per cent in the years since the measles vaccine was introduced. Ms Dorey called for a moratorium on the measles vaccine until the Australian Government conducted its own research on the vaccine. * SARAH STOCK. (c) Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd, 2000. Document austln0020010804dw4m00n13

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Claims of bullying in immunisation row. By TANYA TAYLOR. 475 words 26 January 2000 Herald-Sun HERSUN 11 English (c) 2000 Herald and Weekly Times Limited HUNDREDS of parents could be forced to pay full fees for public childcare if they fail to immunise their children. Childcare workers and health professionals yesterday praised the plan. But civil libertarians and anti-immunisation groups accused the government of bullying. Launching the program in Ballarat yesterday federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge said it was fair to link immunisation with eligibility for childcare benefits. "What's not fair is to have children ill unnecessarily," Dr Wooldridge said. "It's not fair to put your own child at risk and it's not fair to put other people's children at risk. "Children don't need to die from vaccine-preventable illnesses." Dr Wooldridge said about 83 per cent of all children under two years were immunised. But he said less than 75 per cent of children eligible for childcare assistance were immunised. Childcare assistance is a subsidy paid by the government through Centrelink to approved childcare services to reduce the fees the family has to pay. Under the plan, parents of children born on or after January 1, 1996, must ensure their children are up to date with vaccinations to be eligible for the child care subsidies. To comply, children must be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella and haemophilus influenza (Hib) before they turn five. Centrelink will next week send out 60,000 letters to families who qualify for the assistance, requesting a review of their children's immunisation status. Parents will have two weeks to provide proof of immunisation or to have their child immunised. Those who choose not to do so must fill out a conscientious objectors' declaration. Low-income, single-child families would stand to lose more than $125 a week if they failed to comply with the guidelines. Page 7 of 8 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Those with two or more children would miss out on up to $96.50 in childcare subsidies for each child, as well as a rebate of $64.05. "We're not forcing people to immunise their children ... we're forcing them to make a decision," Dr Wooldridge said. The Australian Vaccination Network accused Dr Wooldridge of using strongarm tactics and spreading misinformation. But the director of the Community Childcare Association of Victoria, Celia Haddock, said she supported the plan. "In a healthy society it is important for a child to be immunised against diseases, although we acknowledge that some people don't hold that view," she said. HAVE your say, Voteline, Page 17 CHILD PROTECTION Mandatory immunisations Age Disease 2, 4 Diphtheria, tetanus and and 6 pertussis, poliomyelitis, months Hib (haemophilus influenza) 12 Measles, mumps and months rubella, Hib 18 Diphtheria, tetanus months and pertussis, Hib Before Diphtheria, tetanus school and pertussis, (4-5 poliomyelitis, measles, years) mumps and rubella - SECT-News. (C) 2000 Herald and Weekly Times Limited. Document hersun0020010811dw1q00j9s

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