Vaccine debate probed

Would you immunise your child?

Immunisation has been topical in the media after the recent death of an infant Perth boy who contracted whooping cough.

Riley John Hughes was one month old when he died at Princess Margaret Hospital last week.

Babies under six months old are highly susceptible to the bacterial infection as they are too young to be immunised.

According to WA Country Health Service statistics, 88.98 per cent of children aged 12-15 months in Geraldton, are fully immunised.

WACHS says immunisation is the safest, most effective way of protecting against a dis- ease.

In a two-page special report today, The Geraldton Guardian explores the issue in depth, canvassing views from Government, health professionals, parents and advocacy groups — from both sides of the argument.

In its response, the Department of Health said 2.5 million deaths worldwide were avoided every year because of vaccinations.

Two Geraldton-based paediatricians, Dr Ken Whiting and Dr Apaks Dede, said vaccines saved lives.

They also refuted the claim that vaccinations cause autism.

“Autism is not a repercussion of immunisation, ” Dr Whiting.

“It was bad research … and was later retracted, and the author of that study was de-registered as a doctor by the medical board.”

On the other side of the debate, a Geraldton mother advocates for pro-choice and supports the alternative immunisation method of homeoprophylaxis.

“I believe that a lot of the scaremongering around vaccinating children en masse, from the minute they are born, is largely based on money making, not good health, ” she said.

The Guardian also spoke to Homeopathy Plus, an organisation which advocates homeopathy as an alternative to the traditional method of immunisation.

In regards to the Government’s current immunisation program, Homeopathy Plus owner Fran Sheffield said “we can do better, we can be clever”.

The Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network, an advocacy group dedicated to pro-choice, was also contacted but did not respond.

The immunisation debate: SPECIAL REPORT IN LAST FRIDAY'S GUARDIAN, AVAILABLE ON SITE.