Vaccines. A contentious subject in NZ.

In the mid fifties Warren, you would have had several weeks off school to allow the polio epidemic to wane. There would have been two, maybe more children in "calipers" in that same school - there were in mine. Both the "injection" (which you will recall) and the Salk oral vaccine have seen this disease disappear in our schools. What was a regular occurring scourge has become but a folk memory.

Prior to the free vaccination for diphtheria, up to 30% of young children were infected - with a very high fatality rate.

Though a very rare epidemic in NZ's history, smallpox was endemic in Europe until the widespread use of the COWpox vaccine (upper-case intended); it is estimated that this alone saved over 5 million lives in Europe, over the fifty years from 1870.

The recent introduction of the meningococcal B vaccine in NZ has seen this disease almost cease to exist - in less than 18 months.

While I agree with the use of Thimerisol (or rather its non-use), we continue to be at odds on the value of vaccines.

Muzz appears to be extremely short sighted as the Mercury in the amalgam which was used as fillings for teeth was found to be responsible for all kinds of disease including various brain conditions.
Since the publication of various research papers which proved the point the vast majority of dentists have ceased it's use which benefitted the world as a whole in the form of better health.
However GW Bush is acting as he always does - as a small child who cannot get his own way on something trivial - by throwing his rattle out of the pram and vetoing something which will have far reaching effects throughout the world.
Muzz, Pleae note :- The Salk oral vaccine contained no mercury whatsoever.

Yes Muzz, I do remember the polio vaccine and as you are right I did know other children at school who had had polio. I still remember taking the vaccine. It was raspberry colored and in a little paper cup.

Whereas I have a problem with many vaccines, the flu one being one of them, I don't have a problem with all of them, the polio one being a case in point. This is when an absolute need has been demonstrated and the safety is without question and there is no mercury derived preservative present.

Hi Brian, I regret that dentists in NZ still routinely fill teeth with mercury based amalgams. It is cheap and extremely durable - both essential in a low-wage country such as mine. A grade two filling for a molar in amalgam would cost $NZ40; the same filling in compound $120. If you earn $20,000 a year (the NZ modal wage), after tax - which would most choose?

The research - as always - is quite equivocal and very much depends on the individual's personal perspective and preferences rather than an objective analysis of currently available science. I happen to agree with eliminating mercury amalgams, but the scientific jury is still out on the subject.

I also agree that the flu vaccine is superfluous in most cases, even for those with one foot in the grave like Warren and me (!) - however it pays to keep in mind one singular fact with regard to our children.

Prior to vaccines over 30% of all children failed to attain the age of puberty - mumps, measles, polio, TB, smallpox and whooping-cough winnowed our children from us. My own family is an example - in the 1850s to 1878, my great grandmother was "confined" twelve times - to bring six children to adulthood. This in a time of plentiful organic food in NZ.

Thanks to vaccines (albeit laced with Thimerosal), these are no longer the scourges of our children that they were 100+ years ago. To achieve this level of safety, we need 90% vaccination rates - and no vaccine is either 100% safe or 100% effective ....... but much "safer" than 30% not reaching puberty.

MMR vaccine and autism.

I have just read of a test case being taken in the US (where else?), for parents of a child effected by autism - with the plaintiffs' claim that it was the MMR (Mumps, Measles and Rubella) vaccine that caused the autism. The article also cited that this was a leading cause of the other 4,800 cases of autism.

Firstly, quite obviously, this is a site that does not favour vaccines. However this is a totally mendacious use of statistics. However, if it is indeed the vaccine that is causing the problem (and autism is a terrible syndrome for both the sufferer and all his/her family), then this needs to be seen in perspective.

Assuming that in the USA the annual birth cohort is 4,200,000 (1.4% of the population) and that "children" can be classed as those under 18; this gives a total cohort of 76 million. Therefore the number of autistic children damaged by the MMR is a little less than 30%.

Manipulate the figures anyway you will - indeed, as I have done! - the downside (unproven), terrible though it is for the individual, is hugely beneficial for the society as a whole.