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UPDATE May 16, 2011: Parents with new born babies are being urged to keep them at home and out of harm’s way as a whopping cough outbreak travels through Sydney and New South Wales. There have been 4580 cases of whooping cough so far this year in NSW alone. Dr Rob Menzies from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance said: “We’re appalled at how many kids are getting whooping cough because the chardonnay set and the alternatives don’t vaccinate their children.”

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS STORY. YOU COULD SAVE THE LIFE OF A CHILD. I was working late in front of the brilliant Lateline on ABC1 a couple of weeks ago when they broke a compelling story about the Australian Vaccination Network. I watched the report with tears in my eyes and my jaw dropped somewhere near the floor. Tears for the McCaffery family whose baby Dana died of whooping cough at only 32 days, and dropped jaw for the extraordinary cruelty and willful deceit of the Australian Vaccination Network.

From its name, the Australian Vaccination Network sounds like a reasonable organisation, right? Somewhere you might be able to find information about vaccinating your children. Maybe some pros, maybe some cons.

Well, the last part is right. The whole website is a con because it’s not objective at all. The Australian Vaccination Network is run by a group of extreme anti-vaccination zealots who have harassed and traumatised the parents of a baby girl who died of whooping cough. More than they were already traumatised by the loss of their 4 week old baby if that’s even possible.

UPDATE 27th July:

Fairfax reports:

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This story is so outrageous and so appalling, you really should take a few moments to watch it. Terrific work by Steve Canane (formerly Triple J’s Hack program).

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29tciApImhI&hl=en_GB&fs=1]

If you can’t see the video, Lateline reports

It is not uncommon to look up side effects and health risks on the internet.  Google has replaced a doctor’s consult in many homes around Australia and while I think we should obviously consult a real life flesh and blood doctor for any real medical issues I would certainly look up side effects of medication on the web.  When googling vaccination, the Australian Vaccination Network comes up as the first  result in my search.  According to their  site

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What they forget to add is that they are fanatics who are vehemently opposed to vaccination. Hard to imagine how balanced the information is when they are so boldly opposed to it.   In fact when you read their “About us” page they provide their Constitution but no solid information on who is part of the Network and if there is in fact any scientific or medical knowledge backing their position.

Look, this is not an argument about vaccinations although I am most definitely in the pro-vaccination camp. And I believe the view that it’s a personal decision is a flawed one because one person choosing not to immunise their children can have devastating and tragic effects on someone else’s child – as the McCaffery family discovered.

But what is so outrageous about this story is the fact the Australian Vaccination Network are so devious in not disclosing their position anywhere on their website and the fact that they knowingly publish false and misleading information about vaccinations so as to further their cause.

When you are trying to persuade someone to take a particular course of medical action – one that could have life-or-death consequences for their child as well as other people’s children – you MUST disclose your position. You MUST be transparent. Anything less is gross abuse. Almost as gross as the actual abuse and harassment The Australian Vaccination Network has inflicted on a family in deep grief over the loss of their baby.

What a shocker. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS STORY SO VULNERABLE PARENTS AREN’T MISINFORMED BY THIS WEBSITE OR THIS DANGEROUS GROUP.

What influenced you in your decision to vaccinate your child or not?  Do you think organisations like Australian Vaccination Network should have to declare their hand before offering one-sided and (according to independent health authorities) deliberately false information about vaccination ?