Couple Goes on the Run to Avoid Vaccination

Posted by Jen Chaney at 11:30 PM on August 24, 2008

A mum and dad from Sydney, Australia are now on the lamrun because they refuse to get their two-day-old son vaccinated against hepatitis B. The Department of Community Services has gotten a Supreme Court order requiring the baby to receive the vaccine because the mother was diagnosed with hepatitis B several years ago. 

Like many immunisation-averse parents, the couple believes their son faces greater danger from the aluminum in the vaccine than from the disease itself, which they say they could manage if he happens to contract it. They fled their home last week after Community Services indicated it would take the child into custody and ensure that he gets the vaccine. Apparently, the family — which also includes a three-year-old girl who has not been vaccinated against hepatitis B and has not been screened for the disease — plans to continue life on the run.

Based on the information in this article, it seems like this couple is in a bit of denial about the hepatitis. I could sort of understand their reticence to get the vaccine (a little), but the fact that they aren't actively making sure their daughter is hepatitis-free strikes me as irresponsible. 

But should the Supreme Court really get involved? Does the government need to step in to this degree?

I was erring on the side of no until I got to this graph in the article from the Sydney Morning Herald, which quotes paediatric professor David Isaacs.

"Professor Isaacs said the baby had a 5 to 40 percent chance of
contracting hepatitis B from its mother and 'about 30 percent of
people with hepatitis B will develop cancer or cirrhosis and die young
… I don't understand why these people are willing to sacrifice their
child for a warped idea when the benefits far outweigh the risks.'"

Ultimately they know the children are being exposed to an existing disease. I don't know if the aluminum in the vaccine could harm those kids or not. But it seems like you have to go with what you definitely know. They know the mum has hepatitis. So they should do whatever they can to make sure the kids don’t contract it.

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Comments
  • ed says:

    If Jen Chaney had done her research on the dangers/ineffectiveness of vaccination, then she would “definitely know” what these parents, and rapidly growing numbers of enlightened parents world wide also “definitely know”.

    Jen Chaney, please don’t even respond until you have spent several years reading the countless cases evidencing the pain and anguish caused to the families of vaccine damaged children.

    Where there is doubt, the parents should have the final say. They and only they have the child’s very best interests at heart. NSW Docs, leave these parents in peace, to bond with their baby during what is supposed to be one of the most joyous occasions of their life.

  • We have also done our research on vaccination. Read the article here. – Editor

 

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