Vaccination saves lives

Perhaps I'm going soft, but I'm willing to entertain the possibility that someone who has no training in medicine, science, immunology or statistics could innocently make mistakes in presenting data on these complex subjects. In fact I can sympathise – apparently I was wrong, once. Let's be fair. A mistake or a misunderstanding, while unfortunate, is not a lie.

But, when someone categorically refuses to admit a mistake (even when provided with irrefutable evidence) and then repeats the same misinformation over and over again, it's hard to characterise it as anything but blatant dishonesty.

Ms Dorey was originally scheduled to make a solo (i.e. unchallenged) appearance at Woodford, speaking on the (alleged) links between vaccination and autism. Ultimately, a public outcry, combined with pressure from sponsors, including the Queensland government, persuaded the organisers to give reason a fighting chance. At the eleventh hour, they rejigged the event into a panel discussion between Dorey and Professor Andreas Suhrbier, an expert in immunovirology.

The fact is, spurious appeals to free speech notwithstanding, Dorey should never have been asked to speak at all – and certainly not on that subject. Any alleged links between autism and vaccination have long since been thoroughly researched and discredited.

In 2004, an exhaustive review of 200 epidemiological and biological studies by a panel of independent, expert physicians from the highly respected, non-governmental Institute of Medicine, reached the unanimous conclusion that there is:

• no evidence of a causal relationship between either the MMR vaccine or thimerosal and autism
• no evidence of vaccine-induced autism in 'some small subset' of children
• and no demonstration of potential biological mechanisms.

If this was not enough, in 2011 the final nail in the coffin of the autism/vaccination farce was hammered home. A long since discredited articlewhich appeared to give some credence to the anti-vaxxers' claims was definitively exposed as an elaborate fraud. The paper's main author, Andrew Wakefield, was proven to have misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of his study, and to have deliberately falsified data with the aim of reaping considerable financial benefit. In May 2011, Wakefield was stripped of his medical licence.

Undeterred, Ms Dorey is completely unmoved by this avalanche of evidence and continues to flog this very dead horse for fun and profit.

One has to ask: at what point does 'sticking to your guns' become 'sticking your head in the sand'; at what point does failing to understand become refusing to understand; and at what point does an honest misunderstanding become an outright lie?

The sad thing is that the parents who swallow Ms Dorey's tripe are genuinely trying to do what's best for their kids. Instead, they're putting their lives in danger.

I know there's little chance that I'll persuade the hard-core conspiracy theorists whose search for 'the truth' has them so bamboozled they don't know which way's up. But, for those undecided parents who might hear Ms Dorey at Woodford or elsewhere, please consider whether you really want to stake your child's life on the highly unlikely chance Ms Dorey knows more about vaccinations than the overwhelming majority of the world's doctors and scientists. Think locally. Are you going to listen to the GP who lives and works in your local community - maybe even has kids attending your kids' school - or to someone on the internet you've never met?

And, if you're really stuck for an answer, step outside, look up and maybe (even if only in your imagination), you'll hear a distant hum and see a small plane towing a large banner with the very best advice you're ever likely to receive from a heavenly source:

VACCINATION SAVES LIVES