Latest news on the Australian (Anti) Vaccination network

The AVN have a few court cases coming up soon, here is a bit of a summery of the the conspiracy nuts at the Australian Vaccination Network.

But what is rather frightening, is when I did a google search for "Vaccination Quotes", just how many others like the AVN are out there.


Anyone who knows how difficult it is to keep a secret among three men - particularly if they are married - knows how absurd is the idea of a worldwide secret conspiracy consciously controlling all mankind by its financial power; in real, clear analysis.  Oswald Mosley

It must be a Pro-Vax coverup

                                                                  

Recently the AVN or The Australian (Anti)Vaccination Network have come in for a bit of well deserve hiding.

Their poster boy Andrew Wakefield has been accused of deliberate fraud in the UK by the British Medical Journal, and if you know anything about the UK libel laws, this is a very very serious thing to allege. So far Andrew Wakefield doesn't seem to want to take this to court, if he has as much proof and peer reviewed support as the people behind him says exists, then he is due for millions of pounds in damages.  So....you have to wonder why he doesn't.


Meryl Dorey still stands behind him, well that's not really surprising is it? Even worse for Meryl is the treatment she received on the 7th Jan during a radio show on 2UE from Tracy Spicer during a phone call.  You can listen to it here on YouTube.  A modern classic in Australian Radio, and I think it got Tracy some new fans.

Meryl has often said how deadly these vaccines are.In the last few days the UK Office of Statistics have released the 2009 statistics on the causes of deaths in the UK . Now you would think there would be something in here that would make someone go HA!!! The smoking gun, or the leaking hypodermic in this case. Oh, but yes...It's a conspiracy...Big Pharma has probably provided the stats themselves...I forgot sorry...
Ok...I've had another look, and maybe they are hidden under :- "Complications of medical and surgical care", still, not many there.

A bit more information on the stats can be found on The Guardian website.


A story came out in Australia today about a child being made to have her vaccinations but the most interesting quotes is this one :-

"I think it's dangerous to impose [immunisations] on anyone when there are two opposing viewpoints and when there is credible evidence they may do more harm than good," - Dr Warren Sipser

Firstly this man is a Chiropractor, and no..no.. no, there is no credible evidence they do more harm than good.

You know there are also opposing viewpoints on the Apollo Missions, (it really happened) on if prayer is any good for healing (it isn't), and there is still a Flat Earth Society  (not big on buying globes). All these are just as credible as the Anti-vaxers.

 Meryl had this  wonderful piece of hyperbole on Facebook

 Thanks to Reasonable Hank for the screenshot

So vaccination is the same a Child Rape?...there really aren't any words for you.

The popularity of conspiracy theories is explained by people's desire to believe that there is - some group of folks who know what they're doing - Damon Knight

Living without Wisdom

       One of the most profound advances in Medicine was vaccination, I'm not sure how much this can overstated, this along with clean water and and sanitation has been saving lives of decades.
  
But it seems along with Moon Hoaxes, Flat Earthers, Crop Circles and Chem Sprayers, there are people who believe that vaccinations are dangerous and cause Autism, and in same cases they believe it's a tool to poison them in either a CIA or Alien conspiracy.

Recently in Australia the main organization that was spouting this rubbish has come in for a bit scrutiny. The AVN or the Australian Vaccination Network used to be called on by the Media to provide "balance", when there were stories such as Andrew Wakefield and his bogus MMR findings. I've always found this an odd thing that the Media does, why not the Moon Hoax people for when there are stories on Apollo missions or NASA?

While there are cases of vaccines damaging children, and there are certainly people like cancer sufferers who should have them due to their immune system already being compromised, for society in general vaccination is by far the best option.

Why exactly is the AVN and Anti-vaxxers dangerous to public health?

This blog post from DrunkenMadman show an example of the sloppy and incorrect thinking that is typical of the AVN, and comes from their own magazine . The statement

"It is also a fact that we will only ever contract one disease at a time - measles - not measles, mumps and rubella. Measles - not measles and 9,999 other diseases"

I'm sure many Doctors would be interested in knowing that, so if I get a cold, I don't have to worry about and airborne disease or infections, fantastic! 

The AVN has been active for some years, but it was only with the sad death of  3 month old local child, and the AVNs effort to access her records, and then their insistence that she didn't die of whooping cough, that really brought on the complaints, as it became clear just how awful these Anti-vaxxers are. This led to the  formation of the facebook group Stop the AVN.

These people are clearly deluded, but as we live in a free society, the question of what to do about people who spread FUD ( Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt )  is a difficult one.It also leads to the problem of quack  medicine in general.

I would forward you to the excellently written article on Australian Images , I really can't produce anything better than this.

Anyone in Australia might want to look at Cosmos magazine the current issue has a story on the AVN, and the AVN and it's supporters aren't to happy about it either, the assistant Editor commented she has never had so much vitriolic emails from any group or person.

Awards the AVN have won:-

The 2001 Millennium Awards -> First Place the Anus Maximus Award


The 2009 Millennium Awards -> Encouragement Award

The 2009 Bent Spoon Awards

One of the worlds five biggest Quacks


Government Investigations :-
A public warning about the Australian Vaccination Network from the Health Care Complaints Commission

It seems it's also under investigation by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing
in regard to it's Charity licence.

More Information on the AVN :-


The Australian Measles Campaign where the AVN got it completely wrong.

Stop Meryl Dorey

http://meryldorey.org/

The Skeptic Zone podcast

Antivaxxers


Meryl Dorey on Lateline

Aids Denial 

There is no evidence that vaccination has helped eliminated polio. Polio cases in the last 30 years are linked to the polio vaccine. Outbreaks in India and Nigeria are all directly linked to the vaccine. The vaccine never affected the prevalency of the disease. -Mer yl Dorey