Southland Times: To vaccinate or not to vaccinate

Mark Hotton writes in this opinion piece about why he and his partner have decided to vaccinate their child.

Hotton discusses his research, in which he found a number of websites advocating against vaccination, but explains where they are incorrect, and what influenced him to choose vaccination.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“Part of the anti-vaccination trend came from claims in the 1990s from the UK that the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) was leading to autism in children. Only new research has shown it doesn’t and the author of the original study is facing accusations of lying about his study results.

“There is also an argument that vaccines cause neurological and behavioural problems. I don’t buy that, nor the argument that the drug companies are pushing dangerous vaccines for profit and big government is trying to put more control on the population.

“What I do buy into is health bodies, such as the World Health Organisation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maintain the minuscule risks of vaccines are easily outweighed by the benefit they bring to individual and public health.”