Doctors bust the anti-vax myths that are making our kids sick

As doctors battle misinformation and the anti-vax brigade, we’ve busted the myths about childhood vaccinations. Check out the facts.

Doctors say misinformation about immunisations and the anti-vax movement is “killing our kids” – urging parents to speak to their GPs and do their own research.

Social media has become the biggest problem in the fight to reach herd immunity in Australia, with doctors labelling the anti-vax rhetoric as “reprehensible”.

NSW has hit its lowest rate of childhood immunisation since 2017, with Dr Nicole Higgins, president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, saying the spike in measles and whooping cough cases shows a desperate need for more education and awareness about vaccines.

“In the old days, we used to see people in the street with polio – that doesn’t happen anymore,” she said.

Doctors have urged people to make educated and informed decisions when it comes to vaccination.

“But we need a public health push to educate the community about the importance of vaccines, we need to make sure we also target those who may be not linked in with mainstream healthcare and those from linguistically diverse communities.”

Dr Higgins said she too had been a victim of the “persistent” anti-vax movement, as well as many healthcare professionals who choose to speak out against them.

“The vitriol and the rhetoric against vaccination is now killing our kids, it is that simple,” she said.

“As a local GP, and also the person who represents 43,000 GPS, I have been targeted by the anti vaccine brigade.

“Some (anti-vax) organisations are very organised. They’ve got a strong social media presence and they market to vulnerable parents who may not always have the ability to decipher complex medical information.”

The success of the immunisation program – which was first introduced in Australia in 1932 –

has led many parents to the mistaken belief that diseases like measles and whooping cough have died out – but it’s far from true.

RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins.

The immunisation program has been an integral part of eliminating crippling and fatal diseases such as polio and tuberculosis – but just one traveller infected with a highly infectious disease like measles could restart these vaccine-preventable diseases if immunisation rates don’t increase.

“We can’t rely on everybody else to vaccinate,” Dr Higgins said.

“We all have to do this together, because we are relying on herd immunity now, and with increases in things like measles, we are seeing kids get sick, and it’s a path we don’t want to continue down.”

Dr Anju Aggarwal, who works in a Bankstown clinic, said she was baffled at people turning down the flu vaccine in particular, when it claims so many lives every year.

Recent data shows that just so far this year, more than 43,000 people in NSW have been diagnosed with influenza – but just 9.3 per cent of kids aged between five and 15 have received their flu jab, and only a quarter of people in the 50-65 year age group.

“A lot of people see things on social media and don’t want to take the risk,” she said.

“There’s also the cultural side of things, where people may not understand, and need more explanation and encouragement, which I think needs a lot more focus.”

In Australia, children receive immunisations for whooping cough, polio, hepatitis B, meningococcal, diphtheria, mumps, measles and rubella (among others) between the ages of two months and five years.

The immunisations initiate the body’s natural defence mechanism to build resistance to specific infections. Without them, kids under five can become paralysed from polio, die from measles and go deaf from a case of mumps.

Bankstown GP Dr Anju Aggarwal.

Most of the arguments against vaccination appeal to parents’ understandable concerns for the health of their children.

Unfounded allegations regarding adverse effects from vaccines typically target feared diseases or conditions like autism and SIDS.

But doctors and scientists have debunked them over the years.

FACT: VACCINES DON’T CAUSE AUTISM OR DISABILITY

In 1998, a research paper was published in a medical journal that suggested the combined MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine was implicated in the development of autism.

While the research is often used as fuel by the anti-vax movement, the research was debunked and the doctor who wrote the paper was struck off the medical register in 2010.

A number of high-quality studies have been completed over several years comparing the health of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated children.

The largest study included 537,303 children born in Denmark – which found that unvaccinated children were just as likely to develop autism as vaccinated children.

FACT: VACCINES DON’T HURT YOUR KIDS

Doctors say one of the most common reasons people don’t want to immunise their children is because they are worried it will hurt their little ones.

Swelling and tenderness can happen as a result of a jab, but Dr Higgins said a lot of the time, kids are pretty unfazed by the whole experience.

“If anyone has ever seen a child sick with whooping cough, they would know you never want to see your child that ill or in intensive care,” she said.

FACT: THE FLU VACCINE DOESN’T CAUSE THE FLU

It is impossible for the influenza vaccine to cause the flu.

The vaccines registered for use in Australia are all “inactivated”, which means they do not contain live virus.

The body’s immune response can result in mild side effects similar to early influenza symptoms, but they usually only last for one or two days.

However, doctors are often told by patients they are worried about side effects or getting the flu as an excuse not to receive the annual jab.

“You approach concerns with love and a lot of patience,” Dr Anju Aggarwal said.

“As a GP it’s your job to give them the right information.

FACT: VACCINES ARE ADEQUATELY TESTED

All vaccines in Australia are safe and undergo rigorous testing by the Therapeutic Goods Administration before they are registered and approved.

The TGA is also responsible for testing each batch of any particular vaccine before it is supplied to doctors and health care professionals in Australia.

Safety monitoring extends well beyond the development stage, with the AusVaxSafety system developed to monitor any reactions to a childhood jab.

After an immunisation, participating clinics send a short SMS to parents or carers to ask if they had any adverse reactions, experts are then engaged to monitor and detect any safety issues.

FACT: VACCINE-PREVENTABLE ILLNESS ARE NOT JUST PART OF CHILDHOOD

Anti-vaxxers often claim that vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and rubella are “just part of childhood” – but the claim couldn’t be more wrong.

Measles and whooping cough are rarely heard of in Australia, but that’s due to the success of the immunisation program. Both illnesses have claimed the lives of children in recent years – most of whom were not vaccinated.

If we don’t vaccinate, serious diseases will re-emerge in the community, and more children will be at risk of death.

FACT: VACCINES DON’T WORSEN ASTHMA OR ALLERGIES

Despite claims otherwise, there is no evidence that vaccines cause or worsen asthma or allergies.

In fact, it’s especially important kids with asthma or allergies are vaccinated to reduce their chance of getting a serious infection, which could worsen their exiting conditions.

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Originally published as Doctors bust the anti-vax myths that are making our kids sick