Religion and politics are no longer the only taboo subjects at backyard barbeques. The topic of vaccines and vaccinations can trigger strong, and often opposing viewpoints for many people. It’s also fair to say there’s a lot of misinformation out there about even some of the most common and well-known types of vaccinations. And if there’s one thing we like doing here, its dispelling myths – with SCIENCE. We spoke to our immunology expert, Daniel Layton, to get the low down on this viral topic.
1. Vaccines cause autism – MYTH
Right off the bat we’re going for the most divisive myth, and it’s not because we want to upset anyone, it’s just that we know that we know what we’re talking about. We are Australia’s national science agency after all!
Here’s a bit of background info for this one: 20 years ago a former British doctor had an article published that falsely linked the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine to autism. The paper was retracted and the former doctor has his medical licence revoked, but unfortunately the myth persisted and it’s still endangering people’s lives today.
Since then a number of high quality studies have compared the health of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated children. The largest of these included 537,303 children born in Denmark and found that unvaccinated children were just as likely to develop autism as vaccinated children. When the results of this study were combined with the results of nine other studies to include medical information from nearly 1.5 million children living all around the world, researchers confirmed that vaccination does not cause autism.
2. The flu vaccine can give me the flu – MYTH
Nah, we’ve all heard this one. Maybe you’ve even said it yourself?! Don’t worry, this is a safe space and we don’t judge! But it’s simply not true. In Australia if you’re getting the flu vaccine (and yes, you do need to get it every year because the virus changes so the vaccine is updated to protect you from the worst strain) you’re getting jabbed with a ‘completely killed vaccine’. It doesn’t contain a live virus so it cannot cause an infection.
3. If everyone else is vaccinated, I don’t need to be – MYTH
Vaccines can limit the amount of a virus in the community and when enough people are vaccinated against a disease (measles or whooping cough for example) the entire community is less likely to get the disease. So to keep this community protection – known as herd immunity – going, and help protect people who can’t get vaccinated (babies, pregnant women and people with immune deficiencies or recovering from cancer) we all need to do our part and keep those vaccination levels up. Eventually, the disease can become rare — and sometimes, it’s wiped out altogether, like small pox, for instance. Hooray!
4. Vaccines weaken your immune system – MYTH
Short answer: No, they don’t.
Long answer: No, they don’t, and it’s actually the opposite that’s true. Vaccines strengthen your immune system by stimulating your own natural defence mechanisms that in turn protect you from specific diseases. For some vaccines this immune strengthening can last for decades.
5. Vaccines are not proven to prevent the flu – MYTH
Wrong! The flu vaccine has been shown to protect against 60% of confirmed influenza infections (as opposed to a bad cold, which can seem very similar) and this can be even higher in children.
Influenza is a virus that just keeps on giving….in a bad way. Influenza is responsible for over 10,000 hospital visits and more than 1,000 deaths in Australia each year. In fact 2017 was the worst year on record with over 220,000 cases of influenza reported – not to mention the three to five million cases of influenza globally each year. So it’s really important that you make the time to get your shot!
Light us up!
You might be wondering why we’re even talking to you about this – it’s a great question, and thank you for asking! Other than the fact that we love talking about science (duh) and busting myths, we’re actually hanging out at Vivid Sydney right now. We’re showcasing an intimate view of viral and bacterial structures and we want you to come by and check it out, if that’s your thing. Even if it’s not come by and say hello anyway, our scientists are super friendly. Lock it in, and we’ll see you tonight, or any night up until 16 June!
7th June 2018 at 10:02 am
I have been vaccinated all my life starting at a young age. I lived a good deal of it in Africa where numerous diseases were/are common. I have never been sick from a vaccination and I have never had one of the diseases I have been vaccinated against. So I think they clearly do work. My children have all been vaccinated, no problems.
7th June 2018 at 9:41 am
I think that that a Government Funded Department is never going to be able to deliver a balanced unbiased view on such a controversial topic. There are definitely pros and cons in the immunisation debate but you have only looked at the facts and figures from a pro side which as scientists you should not be. Understand you funding comes from the government who is 100% pro immunisation and benefits hugely from the pharmaceutical companies who make these vaccines. I urge you to ask your own doctor whether he or she would inject their kids with all of the immunisation jabs that the Government recommends. I think their honest, off the record, answer may shock you
7th June 2018 at 9:39 am
First time I’ve seen this. The vaccine myths bit was very good & funny too. Well done.
7th June 2018 at 9:38 am
Rhonda, the use of Thiomersal (the mercury based preservative) in Children’s and Adolescents’ vaccines has been ceased.
From this page —
http://www.immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/Handbook10-home~handbook10-tools~handbook10-appendices~handbook10-appendix4
“Thiomersal (or thimerosal) is a compound that is partly composed of a form of mercury called ethylmercury. It has been used in very small amounts in vaccines for about 60 years to prevent bacterial and fungal contamination of vaccines. In the past, the small amount of thiomersal in vaccines was one of several potential sources of mercury. Diet (such as some seafood) and other environmental sources are also possible sources of mercury. Vaccines used in the past, such as DTP, contained only 25 µg of thiomersal per dose.
Mercury causes a toxic effect after it reaches a certain level in the body. Whether or not it reaches a toxic level depends on the amount of mercury consumed and the person’s body weight; individuals with very low body weight are usually more susceptible to toxic effects from a certain intake of mercury. Thus, the possibility existed that vaccination of newborn babies, particularly those of very low birth weight, with repeated doses of thiomersal-containing vaccines might have resulted in levels of mercury above the recommended guidelines.
Thiomersal was removed from vaccines in response to the above theoretical concern and to reduce total exposure to mercury in babies and young children in a world where other environmental sources may be more difficult to eliminate.6-8
Currently, all vaccines on the NIP for children and adolescents are free of thiomersal.”
7th June 2018 at 9:29 am
If you’re going to cite studies, it would be helpful if you could post the links to those studies so that interested readers can follow up on the research for themselves. Right now this article offers little of value, the argument boiling down to “trust us, we’re scientists”.