Is There a Vaccine for Idiocy?

Is there a vaccine for idiocy?

• JAMES DREW

• CABOOLTURE SHIRE HERALD

• APRIL 12, 2013 10:05AM

IF there was a shot to immunise against haters of vaccines I'd cop a jab of that elixir right now.

Like a reoccurring rash the debate over vaccines resurfaces every few months, often bringing with it a swab of convoluted hippy science.

Reviving the story this week is the National Health Performance Authority which says Australia has about 77,000 children not fully immunised.

The numbers prove once again some parents are refusing to accept scientific consensus that vaccines can prevent children from dying.

The failure to immunise children flies in the face of Australian Academy of Science data showing child deaths by antiquated nasties such as measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus and infantile paralysis are near non-existent thanks to vaccines.

It's almost as if the lack of deaths is causing a false belief that these diseases no longer exist.

I'm just thankful I was conceived in the 1980s before Australian parents got the internet because my mother would almost definitely withhold jabs if I was born today.

I love my mother, but she does live in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and has a history of exploring alternative medicines and falling for Goji Juice scams.

If I so much as cough at home she'll ambush me with a lemon-honey tea, six garlic tables, vitamin C, a multi vitamin and there won't be a Codral in sight.

As a former Army Reservist I've been injected with dozens of vaccines for everything from hepatitis B to meningococcal and I'm thankful for every last one of them.

I don't ever want to know what shingles feels like or find out if whooping cough is as bad as people say.

I'm no doctor, and neither is Wikipedia, which is why I put my faith in the experts to vaccinate me against whatever pandemic's floating around.

The truth inoculators will say things like "vaccines cause autism", "elderberries are the best defence against the flu" or "vaccines are just a money-grab for greedy corporations".

But until the haters can front up scientific proof vaccines are worse for me than measles, jab me up baby.

James Drew is neither a doctor nor scientist. Instead of a doctorate in vaccinations, James has a bachelor's degree in journalism which severely limits his job prospects and value to the human race. When James isn't telling parents how to do their job, he writes for community newspapers Caboolture Shire Herald and Northern Times.

Follow James on Twitter: @JamesDrewQLD