That's all very well, tired....however, most people who reject vaccinations are nicely cocooned by societal herd "immunity".

That's because most people choose vaccination against these diseases.

It's great to think one can "opt out", but still have a relative immunity through other people's actions.

Immunisation greatly reduces the risk of catching
a disease, which in turn reduces the risk of
complications, including death.

In this day and age, when we are fortunate enough
in this country to give our children this protection
I can't see responsible parents not doing so.
Protecting your children as well as sparing others
they come in contact with.

I have seen the ravages of whooping cough and what it
does to a baby. It's not something that I would wish
on any child. Especially as it can be preventable.

According to the Australian Medical Association -
childhood immunisation rated in Australia remain high
and steady in most areas - at around 92 per cent.
I guess that says it all.

Actually Poirot, I have one child who is totally unvaccinated (as a result of informed choice) and that child was directly exposed to whooping cough as a 15 month old (played with a child who had a cough that was later diagnosed as whooping cough - that child was a fully vaccinated toddler) and my child did not get the disease.
Tired

tired,

Oh well...there you go!

It makes one wonder why we bother vaccinating at all(sarc)

I've heard other anti-vacs bragging that their children have never caught anything dastardly....totally ignoring the fact that other people's choices are responsible for the state of play in this country.

Your child was very lucky. Just the same as many people didn't contract polio etc when it was rife.

That's no reason to dismiss the value of vaccination, because the odds of anybody's child contracting a preventable disease is far lessened because of modern practice.

Tired, you might want to check your facts.

Yes, some vaccinated people contract whooping cough anyway, but it is often a much milder form of the disease than if they hadn't had the vaccination.
Whooping cough vaccinations don't last for life, so adults need booster shots now, especially if a baby is due in their lives, eg parents to be and grandparents to be.

Society is trying to protect the very young babies and the sick children who can't have the vaccination yet, from contracting the full whooping cough disease, which often leads to death.

The children who develop a severe reaction to immunizations are few and far between.
And indeed, many of these reactions are not proved medically to actually be a consequence of the immunizations, such as autism.

If there were no immunizations available at all, then eventually millions would die or suffer terrible complications from diseases such as polio, diphtheria, and TB.
Most intelligent people are aware of this fact.

Poirot I dont think it was luck rather that he had a very strong immune system and just because i have made an informed decision not to vaccinate does not mean that i have dismissed vaccination entirely. However I do feel we have a right to make an informed decision.

Suseonline i do hope that you are not implying that people who make an informed decision not to vaccinate are not intelligent? That would be a very offensive thing to suggest. I would like to gently suggest that you inform yourself as you are still referring to vaccinations as immunisations which implies that immunity is gained when vaccinations do not provide immunity. These are two completely different things.
Tired