Milk maids at the end of the 18th century had the reputation for having the finest complexions. In those days in England, many people were disfigured by the scars left after the dreaded smallpox. Yet milkmaids never seemed to catch smallpox. An English doctor noted that milkmaids all caught cowpox from their cattle. This was a minor infection which left no scars.

In 1796 Dr Edward Jenner innoculated a boy with cowpox and subsequently showed that he was "immune" to the more virulent smallpox.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1798jenner-vacc.html

This is the origin of immunisation and the principles remain the same today.

The body's immune system is capable of "recognising" an invading infection. During the illness, we make antibodies against infections like Measles or Polio. Unfortunately, in order to produce our antibodies - we must suffer the illness. In the case of polio, this meant large epidemics every year which left thousands of children paralysed. Once we recover from an infection, our immune system "remembers" the antigen so that subsequent contact is rapidly resisted and we do not "catch" the same virus twice.

There is no "cowpox" which will give protection against polio ....but scientists discovered that by damaging the polio virus, they could "trick" the body into producing polio antibodies. Thus when confronted by the real polio, our bodies would already be prepared and we would avoid the illness. So polio vaccine contains damaged or "attenuated" virus material. Vaccine research is aimed at producing the greatest immune response with the least ill-effect.

So you see, vaccination is using the body's normal defence system to produce the same natural immune response as if infected with a live wild virus. Ignorant people who campaign against immunisation claim that it somehow damages the body's natural immune defences. There is no evidence for this, any more than cowpox harming the lovely milk-maids.

Some vaccines are more effective than others. Some last longer in our body's immune "memory". Most vaccines need to be boosted so the body will sustain a vigorous defence over a long period. Recent research has shown that Tetanus Vaccine probably has life-long duration once a young adult has had a final booster.

No vaccine is perfect. Sometimes they do not "take", and we can still catch the illness. Some people catch the flu despite being immunised ..but most do not! If we immunise enough members of the "herd", then those who miss being immunised will be protected by "herd immunity". The people who argue against immunisation, are in fact protected by the prudence of those who do get immunised.

Rarely and unpredictably, some individuals may have an allergic reaction to a vaccine. For example one in every million recipients of Measles vaccine can have a very serious reaction. It has also been shown that some immune diseases, like Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) are more common after Measles vaccination. However, ITP is even MORE common after wild Measles infection.

The experts who study immunisation weigh the balance between the damage caused by an infectious disease, against the possible ill-effect from a vaccine. The vaccine is only recommended if the benefit outweighs any risk. For this reason, Cholera injections are not recommended. They are not very effective and can cause side effects.

The non-scientists also suggests that the wild viruses are losing their virulence and are no longer a threat. Any visit to a third world country can quickly dispell such myths. Hospitals are filled with pitiful children choking from diptheria or whooping cough. These diseases are virtually unknown in our lucky country.

In Australia, until 1995, 20 children died every year from bacterial meningitis caused by Haemophilus Influenzae. Since that year there has not been a single death in an immunised child, after vaccine was introduced. In addition, thousands of children have been spared deafness and disability. It is hard to understand why anyone would oppose such an outcome.

Immunisation IS NOT compulsory, despite popular belief. Every parent should make the best choice for his or her child, based on the available evidence. There are many vaccines available, including Chicken Pox, Hepatitis B and Meningitis vaccine.

Your family doctor is trained to safely administer these vaccines and to discuss which ones are appropriate for your children. Your GP can also assist with immunisation for travel overseas.

The average person is quite capable of understanding the principles behind safe vaccination. You do not have to be an immunologist to appreciate our remarkable freedom from vaccine-preventable infectious disease. Where is smallpox? Gone. Thanks to vaccination. The sooner they make a vaccine for AIDS the better!

THE POEM BELOW IS REPRODUCED WITH KIND PERMISSION FROM BARRY WILLIAMS, EDITOR, "THE SKEPTIC".

TO EDITH

We sang at church about the stream

That dashes up its silver spray

And on its margin, like a dream

There walks with God our Edith May.

(Joseph Manning (1856 - 1925) farmer, coal miner and poet.)

Those lines are all that now survive Of what my grandpa's father wrote About his daughter's death aged five >From inflammation of the throat.

In nineteen-seven it occurred;

The place, north-western New South Wales.

Their life was hard, it is averred.

A hot, dry climate there prevails.

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Diphtheria, the croupal kind

It was that took her life away,

An illness that you'll seldom find

Among the children of today.

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And what has made it get so rare?

A prophylactic needle prick.

The sting is worth it if you bear

In mind that then you won't get sick.

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A vaccine for diphtheria

Back then I guess had not been found.

Or else that far off area

In medicine did not abound.

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My grandpa lived a mile away.

He could not meet his sister lest

To her disease he too fall prey.

He did, though, see her laid to rest.

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There never lived a girl so sweet,

My grandpa said when he was old.

Adored by all whom she did meet,

She truly had a heart of gold.

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I think that stories such as this

In all our families are known.

We are then all the more remiss

If needle hatred we condone.

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So when you hear detractors say

What consequences can attend

The jab, remember Edith May -

And all who had the same bad end.

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