Whooping Cough vaccine failure (letter to editor)

From: "Meryl Dorey" <shotinfo@ozemail.com.au>

Dear Sir or Madam,

In your article, Contagious cough grows in Southland, 16/7/99, your reporter
states that vaccination prevents whooping cough but the immunity wanes so
parents are urged to vaccinate their children.  What he doesn't investigate
is how many of those 30 or so who were diagnosed with whooping cough had
already been fully and appropriately vaccinated.  This is very important
information to know.

The Australian Government's CDI Bulletin reported (Vol 21; No 11; 29/5/97)
that the rate of reported whooping cough went from "2.0 per 100,000
population to 30.5 per 100,000 population in 1994 despite pertussis
vaccination coverage approaching 90% for the three-dose primary course"  In
other words, this is not a case of failure to vaccinate, but simply a
failure of the vaccine to protect.

Parents must be made aware that the whooping cough vaccine has been tested
and found to be only between 36-48% effective.  That means less than half of
those who receive the vaccine will have any protection whatsoever and that
protection will wane within a very short period of time.

For this very ineffective vaccine, there is a risk of permanent brain
damage, auto-immune disorders such as diabetes, eczema, and asthma and
death.

I hope that future articles in your newspaper on this subject will be more
questioning of the information regarding vaccines. When weighing up the
benefits vs. the risks of vaccination, parents must be given all the
information so that they can make the best and most informed choice for
their own children.

Thank you,
Meryl Dorey

Meryl W. Dorey,
President
The Australian Vaccination Network, Inc.
PO Box 177                           02 6687 1699 Phone
Bangalow NSW 2479                  02 6687 2032 FAX
meryl@avn.org.au                       http://www.avn.org.au
"All truth goes through three stages.  First it is ridiculed.  Then it is
violently opposed.  Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."
(Schopenhauer)