Why do Aussies write books like this?

[R Merc]

Melanie’s Marvelous Measles

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/07/anti_vac...e_measles/

Is the Anti vax crowd growing in AU like it is in the US?

[Ozmaniac]

Fair go mate! One Australian writes one book and you ask why Aussies (plural) write such books?

The anti immunisation crackpots make a lot of noise and are very vocal on the internet, but they're only a tiny minority. Few Australians fall for their rubbish and our government, health authorities and even the current affairs programs on television (including the ones that normally jump on any old bandwagon for sensation's sake) are ardent supporters of immunisation. Immunisation rates have been dropping for many years but that's mostly due to ignorance and apathy rather than any philosophical objection on the part of most parents.

[O]

wow...

talk about over reacting generalising as the previous answer one book does not equal "why do aussies"...

[Bingalee]

I just heard on the news that it has been banned from certain areas(I am guessing government buildings) Don't judge a whole country on one book & think of the crap that comes out of your own country.

Edit: Just heard that news item again & what it actually said was that the AMA WANTS it to be banned,sorry about the mistake.

[Truth Matters]

A small number of Australians are stupid enough to accept the forged science and outright lies of the Anti vaccination conspiracy theorists, they are willing to put their own child's life at risk but also the lives of others. Most Australians know vaccination is safe and effective.

[C.M. C]

R. Merc, did you get tired of bashing North Americans, and came over to insult the Australia.

Not going to open your stupid link, as I am not about to play your bashing games. As per you very last line, the answer is no.

Look in your own back yard first, it may need mowing.

[tentofield]

There is a strong anti-vax movement in Australia particularly in certain areas. Northeast NSW is one and the Adelaide Hills is another. The misnamed Australian Vaccination Network is the main anti-vax organisation with its own website in Australia.

The NSW Department of Fair Trading has ordered them to change their name "because the title is “against the public interest”

" In a December 12 letter to AVN public officer Meryl Dorey, Fair Trading commissioner Rod Stowe adds that the name is “undesirable and therefore unacceptable pursuant to section 18(1) f of the [Associations Incorporation] Act [2009].

"Stowe said that “NSW Fair Trading has received complaints that the Association’s name is confusing, misleading and has misled the public as the operational intention of the Association. … I hereby direct Australian Vaccination Network Incorporated to change its name.”

"The Department gives the AVN until February 21, 2013, to apply for registration of a change of name."
http://www.skeptics.com.au/latest/announ...able-name/

There have been three deaths of babies in northeast NSW from whooping cough (pertussis) in recent times and there is an epidemic of pertussis in the area. Babies should be protected by herd immunity but the number of people not having children vaccinated is so high that herd immunity has failed. Adults are getting what is often called the "hundred day cough". It is whooping cough.

Stop the AVN is an organisation set up to counter the misinformation being put out by the AVN. It has a website here http://www.stopavn.com/ and uses Facebook and Twitter as well. Stop the AVN was awarded Skeptic of the Year in 2010.

It is a continuing battle to fight the anti-vaxxers but at last the news media are learning that a report on vaccination does not need a "balanced" report from anti-vaxxers any more than a report on astronomy needs input from astrologers or a report on evolution needs "balance" from creationists.

[Sheila]

The anti-vax crowd has been active in Australia for at least the last 25 odd years, but there have been a few high-profile news and current affairs items over the last year outlining the lies of the naysayers and the dangers involved with the loss of herd immunity that have hopefully raised awareness and slowed down the numbers of people not immunising their children. I have no idea what the US situation is.

[Big John]

It's called freedom of information.