And now for some controversy. Some believe that it is not wise to vaccinate their kids and that is their belief, however I think it is dangerous not to be vaccinated, and this is my belief. Each to their own right? In an article by Sue Dunlevy she writes that the Health Minister Tanya Pilbersek is wanting to make sure that kids that are not vaccinated are not allowed to enroll in school.

Well, with the fact that our world is getting smaller and smaller. Travel is easier and more and more people visit so many different countries with so much ease (plane travel is cheaper and flights go just about anywhere now days), is it any wonder that disease and sickness spreads more easily.  I am not saying that there is a disease lurking but the known ones that we have vaccinations for are growing legs due to the huge groups that are not vaccinating their kids.

I know there has been talk, and research on the vaccinations causing autism and other issues. I for one think that if you vaccinated your child and was soon after diagnosed with autism that would be such a shock, a blow and I can clearly understand how you as a parent can think that it is the needle that might have done it. However there has been a lot of research stating that autism diagnoses happens at roughly the age that you get the last lot of vaccinations as a 4 year old, the doctors are saying that there is no link due to the vaccinations but it is just the timing of when the diagnose happens for the child. Having the needles at 4 years and possible diagnose at the same age would make you think twice.

In a document from Australian Health Department it lists why you should get vaccinated and also shows that the dangers are not there. According to the Australian Health Department document:

“Reductions in vaccination rates can lead to diseases coming back. This has happened in the past with polio in many developed countries, with diphtheria in the former Soviet Union and, more recently, with measles in the United Kingdom.”

Also in another document from Australian Health it states:

“There has also been a proposed theory linking the MMR vaccine and autism specifically. However, this was due to one published study that has since been retracted due to the data being fraudulent. All epidemiological studies since have disproven this theory. The concern about the relationship between MMR vaccine and autism is further discussed in the section ‘Safety concerns: Specific vaccines’.”

However as a mother of two kids that are soon to go off to school and are fully immunised I would like to make sure that they are not exposed to illness, disease or other things that can easily be prevented. I do understand that you cannot prevent everything from happening but one thing that is in my power is making sure that my little joys, my loves of my life stay healthy and that is making sure that they are fully immunised, I  can minimise the risk of getting very ill or dying from a disease that we have not had for many years and can prevent with medicine.

“The World Health Organisation says immunisation rates higher than 93 per cent are required to stop the spread of killer diseases like whooping cough and measles.” Sue Dunlevy, The Telegraph.

I do understand that others feel passionately about the fact that they have not immunised but why would you want to have the following come back and threaten your kids or others:

• Measles – An infectious viral disease causing fever and a red rash on the skin, typically occurring in childhood
• Mumps – A contagious and infectious viral disease causing swelling of the parotid salivary glands in the face, and a risk of sterility in adult males
• Rubella – A contagious viral disease, with symptoms like mild measles. it can cause fetal malformation if contracted in early pregnancy
• Varicella – A herpesvirus that causes chicken pox and shingles; herpes zoster
• Pertussis – A highly contagious disease caused by the bacterium bordete, commonly called whooping cough

I wanted to get a percentage of people that are immunised compared to ones that are not. I could not get a figure on this, however in a Mamamia article I did find that more than 77,000 children across Australia are not fully immunised. Now that is shocking!

I do understand the worry with the media and reports about autism being linked and other issues after getting vaccinated. It is due to the fact that Australia and other countries similar have been vaccinated that we have a good health record, however that said with people who are not getting immunised this will not be the case and those people are at risk and will put others at risk also.

I for one would never forgive myself if I did not vaccinate myself, or my children and someone died or got so sick that they never fully recovered. I would never ever be able to stop blaming myself if this happened, that’s why I make sure to be vaccinated to ensure our health and others.

When I enrolled the twins at the school they wanted to check that their immunisations were up to date. I wonder what they would have had me do if I said, we have not immunisaed them. I am not up for home schooling so glad that this would not be an issue.

We support vaccinations and were making sure that the twins got theirs done on time and were up to date. The government was making sure to pay parents an incentive to make sure their children got immunised but the government stopped the last payment for the twins, it was not just us, when the girls got their 4 year old shots,  it fell out of the cut off date when they stopped the payments for all. We would have been eligible to get a bit of money back that I think we are entitled to, however due to it being after the cut off date we are not. The money would help but it is not the argument here, why have an incentive plan and then fail to see it to the end.  We would have immunised anyway.

Have you made the decision not to vaccinate? Have you had to change your mind due to enrolling kids at school? What happens if you decide not to vaccinate?  Let me know.

As said this post is a bit controversial but I have very strong feelings for the immunisation of everyone! Why not prevent things that we have the power to.

If you feel the same way, why not sign the NO JAB, NO PLAY petition. I did.