OUR SAY: Don't buy into fake news surrounding vaccinations

The biggest thing parents can do to protect their baby is to vaccinate their children at the appropriate age.

A routine vaccination given to newborns to prevent a severe gastro virus may protect Australian children from developing type 1 diabetes.

MORE and more often I'm hearing my friends asking those who wish to visit their newborn to make sure they have their whooping cough needles up to date.

It's something I've had done in the past year, with the arrival of my niece and nephew.

It's such a small, simple way we can all keep vulnerable members of our community safe.

But the biggest thing parents can do to protect their baby is to vaccinate their children at the appropriate age.

The numbers released by Queensland Health show that as a whole, our community is committed to immunising children.

FULL STORY: Figures show Wide Bay has healthy vaccination rate

The vast majority of us want to make sure kids are safe from diseases that can harm them.

But there are still too many who avoid doing the responsible thing because they have been misled.

Instead of believing their own GP, they believe what  they read on the internet - or buy into a study that has long since been debunked.

Vaccinations do not cause autism; there's simply no credible evidence that proves this.

It's shocking to hear about outbreaks of diseases like measles - diseases that once caused the deaths of many children before vaccines were readily available.

Do not buy into the fake news surrounding vaccines.

The best way to protect your child from preventable disease is to immunise them.