Vaccination
Vaccination
Polio
In the United States during the period 1980-1985, 55 cases of paralytic polio
were reported. Of these cases, 51 were caused by the oral vaccine and 4 occurred in
people returning from developing countries.
(Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), published by the United
States Center for Disease Control International notes: Imported paralytic poliomyelitis -
United States, 1986; 35, 671-674.)
Of the reported 18 cases of paralytic polio in 1977, three of the patients were
persons who were in the United States but who were not residents, and 2 of the other 15
victims apparently contracted the disease abroad. Three cases occurred in recent
vaccine recipients, and 10 cases had been in close contact with recently vaccinated
people. Only 3 cases occurred in persons “without known vaccine association.”
(Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) January 23, 1978.)
Paralytic polio was rare until the late nineteenth century, at which point mass
vaccination for various diseases became routine in the West. With increasing levels of
vaccination against various diseases in the Third World, paralytic polio is now a
problem there as well.
Good wound care is the single most important factor in the prevention of tetanus
in fresh wounds. This means thorough cleansing of the wound and removal of all
foreign bodies and dead tissue.
Measles
A vast number of children who were injected with a killed measles vaccine
between 1963 and 1968 in the United States are now subject, as young adults to what is
called “atypical measles”. This is a very severe form of the disease in which it appears
that, because of the vaccination, there is an increased susceptibility to measles viruses,
resulting from a damaged immune response. (JAMA, 1980, Vol. 1244, No. 8, pp. 804-
806.)
As with mumps the incidence of rubella has shifted to older age groups since
the widespread vaccinations for rubella. During the period between 1966 and 1968,
twenty-three percent of rubella cases occurred among persons 15 years or over. In
1987 this same age group accounted for 48 percent of cases.
(MMWR, Rubella and congenital rubella syndrome - United States, 1985-
1988.1989,38:173-178.)
Meningitis
This vaccine has been shown to cause serious reactions including convulsions,
anaphylactoid allergic reactions, serum sickness-like reactions and death. (Pediatrics,
1987, Milstien et al., 80: 270-274.)
Recommended reading:
The Vaccination Connection, by Sue Marston, 1993. Available from CAFMR (address at
bottom). Price: $7.25.
Vaccinations? A Review of Risks and Alternatives, by Isaac Golden, 1993. Available from the
author at the Aurum Healing Centre, P.O. Box 155, Daylesford VIC 3460. Price: $18.50.
The Risks of lmmunizations and How to Avoid Them, by Dr R. Mendelsohn, 1988, The People’s
Doctor.
How To Raise a Healthy Child... In Spite of rour Doctor, by Dr R. Mendelsohn. Available from
Sydney Esoteric Bookshop - 408 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills NSW 2010. Price: $23.
The Immunization Decision, by R. Neustaedter, 1990, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley,
California.
If you or your child’s vaccination has caused any adverse reactions or has failed
to protect against the targeted disease, write to either of the groups below who supplied
this information titled: Vaccinations not safe, not effective.
Immunisation Investigation Group
P. O. Box 900, Katoomba NSW 2780.
or
Campaign Against Fraudulent
Medical Research
P.O. Box 234, Lawson NSW 2783.
Phone/fax: (047) 58-6822.
Initially, the word “virus” meant poison, and the word “virulent” meant
poisonous. Today, virus means a submicroscopic entity, and virulent generally means
contagious. Modern medicine has employed the term virus to mean an ultra-minute
form of life that infects cells, and which is blamed for causing more and more of our
diseases.
According to the popular portrayal of the virus, it is a form of life that
parasitises all life forms including animal, plant, and saprophytic (fungi and bacteria).
In descriptions of viral disease, viruses are credited with such actions as
“injecting themselves” , “incubating”, “laying in wait”, “invading”, having an “active
stage”, “commanding”, “reactivating”, “disguising themselves”, “infecting”,
“conducting sieges” and being “devastating” and “deadly”.
Conventional medical theory explains that viruses come from dying cells which
they have infected––the virus “injects” itself into the cell and “commands” it to
reproduce itself, and this occurs until the cell explodes from the burden. Viruses are
then free to seek out other cells to repeat the process, thereby infecting the organism.
Virologists admit, however, that although viruses are distinctive and definitely
organic in nature, they have no metabolism, cannot be replicated in the laboratory, do
not possess any characteristics of living things and, in fact, have never been observed
alive!!
Obligate Reproduction
In the medical rationale to viral disease causation, we are told to believe in
obligate reproduction, where one organism (the cell) is obligated to reproduce an alien
organism (the “virus”). Nowhere in nature, however, does any living thing reproduce
anything other than its own kind.
Do not forget that the size relationship of a virus to a cell is literally about one
billionth the size. The viral rationale of disease-causation tells us to believe that the
virus injects itself into the cell and commands it to reproduce the virus hundreds of
thousands of times, upon which the cell explodes.
When the virus “reproduces”, its collective mass still equals far less than
1/100th of one per cent of the mass of the cell. That is like saying if you inject yourself
with half an ounce of a substance, it will cause so much internal pressure that you will
explode!!
Only living micro-organisms are capable of acting and reproducing, which is
under direct control of the nucleus, genome or “brain”. A so-called “virus” is a
detached part of a once organically functioning entity whose genetic structure has the
same relationship that a head has to a body: to ascribe any action to viruses is roughly
akin to attributing actions to a dead person’s decapitated head!
“Susceptibility” Revisited
The concept of “contagion” is closely related to the equally erroneous notion of
“susceptibility”––for a contagion is supposedly “contagious” only if the individual is
“susceptible”. This medical rationale is really an admission that germs do not cause
disease. If they did, everyone exposed would become sick with the same disease.
Actually, a “susceptible” person is one with a high degree of body toxicity,
along with the sufficient vitality to conduct the disease/purification process. The
individual may become ill whether exposed to a “contagion” or not at any given time.
When truly healthy individuals maintain their health while in the midst of
“communicable or epidemic diseases”, then it must be self-evident that the theory of
contagion is incorrect.
The part of the body most laden with toxins is the first to exhibit disease
symptoms, but the overall effect is systemic as all the organs and glands of the system
suffer impairment to some degree.
This theory has been repeatedly demonstrated as incorrect in the scientific field,
and was even admitted by Pasteur as being incorrect.
This was only part 2 of Arthur M Baker’s article on Exposing the Myth of The Germ Theory. See below
for further information.
By Arthur M. Baker, M.A. Self-Health Care Systems. Extracted from “Bacteria, Germs and Viruses Do Not
Cause Disease: Discriminating between Medical Myth and Biological Fact”, excerpted from the book, Awakening Our Self-Healing
Body. Contributed to NEXUS Magazine and reprinted with permission from NEXUS Magazine, October/November 1994.
Tuberculosis
Looking at the tuberculosis death rate in Australia we see that 68 per 100,000 of
mean population died in 1921, dropping to 49 per 100,000 in 1931, and dropping
further to 18 per 100,000 in 1951. The first medical treatment designed to eliminate
tuberculosis in Australia was drug therapy which did not commence until 1950.
On the 18th November 1967 Dr H O Lancaster wrote in the Medical Journal of
Australia, and he said:
....the trend of mortality from tuberculosis shows that the greater part had already
disappeared before the coming of these agents (drugs) in Australia.
The records show that up until the mid 19th century tuberculosis was one of the
biggest causes of death in England, claiming 3,000 lives per million of population
during the 1850s. But from that time the death rate declined and when the BCG
vaccine was commenced in 1954 the death rate had fallen by 95 per cent. Ian Sinclair
tells about Professor Thomas Mckeown’s statement. He was Professor of Social
Medicine at Birmingham University, UK, and he said:
Ian Sinclair also reported that there has never been vaccination against
tuberculosis in the USA, yet the decline in this disease parralleled that of England and
other European countries.
The causes for this decline are by no means certain. There has been no efficient
prophylactic immunization nor can changes in therapy have had much effect, since
the decline appeared before 1931.
During the 1860s in England, the death rate from whooping cough was about
1,370 per million children under 15 years of age. The death rate dropped to 815
children per million during 1901-1910, dropping to 140 children per million during
1910-1940, and dropping to 5 children per million in the late 1950s when vaccination
was commenced as a national program. Professor Gordon Stewart who had been one of
the main people involved in the vaccination campaigns in England since 1947, wrote an
article on whooping cough which appeared in Here’s Health, March 1980, and he said:
....there was no extensive vaccination against whooping cough until 1958, by which
time mortality was very low indeed and prevalence decreasing.
Measles
Measles deaths in Australia were 1,505 during 1911-1915, dropping to 391
during 1931-1935, dropping to 181 during 1951-1955, dropping to 99 during 1966-
1970. It was not until 1970 that vaccination campaigns against measles were
commenced in Australia. In the Australian Medical Journal on the 23rd August 1952
Dr H O Lancaster said:
It is of importance to note that the fall in Australia in the mortality rates from
measles occurred in the absence of any improvements in therapy or active measures
in prophylaxis.
By 1900 in England and Wales the death rate was 318 per million population,
but by 1956 this figure declined to less than 1 per million, and this was seven years
before vaccination against measles was introduced.
At the turn of the century in the USA there were 13.3 deaths per 100,000
population, and without any vaccination against measles the death rate fell to 0.03
deaths per 100,000. This was a huge decrease of 97.7 per cent.
Smallpox
Before Edward Jenner introduced his smallpox vaccine about 1800, smallpox
deaths in England had fallen from 500 to 200 per 100,000 population over the
preceding two centuries. The mortality rate had fallen to 40 per 100,000 population by
the time compulsory vaccination was commenced in 1852. It should be noted that the
death rate jumped from 28 to 45 per 100,000 population between 1867-1880 when
compulsory vaccination was strictly enforced.
In 1983 a report appearing in Medical History concluded that vaccination could
not have been solely responsible for the decline of smallpox in Britain. It said:
The history of smallpox in the later years of the 19th century does not support the
contention that vaccination was fully or finally responsible for the eventual
disappearance of the disease in Britain.
It is obvious to anyone studying the facts that the decline in smallpox was not
achieved by vaccination. The facts show that smallpox declined in all parts of Europe
whether or not vaccination was used.
From 1872, when 85.5% of births were vaccinated, there were 3,708 deaths due
to smallpox in the UK. The number of births vaccinated continued to drop until 1941
where only 34.9% of births were vaccinated resulting in 1 death. (Herbert Shelton,
Hygienic Care of Children page 401).
The Vaccination Inquirer, London, February 1947 asked the question:
How could an operation that was declining be responsible for the extermination of
smallpox?
Ian Sinclair also pointed out that an Australian doctor, Dr Glen Dettman stated
in Health Consciousness, October 1986:
Diphtheria
During 1911-1915, there were 3,677 deaths from diphtheria in Australia,
dropping to 2,565 during 1921-1925, dropping to 1990 during 1926-1930, rising to
2,083 during 1931-1935. The rise in the death rate from diphtheria occurred during the
time when vaccination was commenced around 1932-1935, by which time a major
decline in the death rate had already occurred. Dr H O Lancaster referred to the decline
in diphtheria saying:
....when the decline in mortality from diphtheria is compared with the decline in
mortality rates from other childhood infections, it is seen that its relative decline has
been no better than those of measles or pertussis (whooping cough) for which there
was no specific treatment or prophylaxis up to the end of the period considered here.
In England, diphtheria caused annually over 1,000 deaths per million children in
1860, but by 1870 there were only 400 deaths per million and this was before the
diphtheria germ had been isolated. When the death rate had fallen to 300 per million a
year by 1940, diphtheria vaccination was commenced. Bernard Dixon, in his book,
Beyond The Magic Bullet said:
According to the records, diphtheria started its decline in Europe and America
long before the introduction of diphtheria antitoxin, let alone vaccination. Deaths from
diphtheria declined rapidly without vaccination throughout Norway, Sweden and
Denmark. By 1939, there were only 18 cases of diphtheria per million recorded in
Norway, showing that diphtheria had virtually disappeared.
Poliomyelitis
Records show that in Australia there were 113 deaths from polio for the year
1950, and in each following year the figures were: 1951 - 346; 1952 - 109; 1953 - 165;
1954 - 80; 1955 - 30; 1956 - 57; 1957 - 8; 1958 - 4; 1959 -5; 1960 - 2; 1961 - 21; 1962 -
25. When the death rate was 57in 1956, the Salk polio vaccinations were commenced.
It is doubtful to some and obvious to many that polio vaccination had little or nothing
to do with the decline in death rates from poliomyelitis. On the 18th November 1967
Dr H O Lancaster wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia saying:
Although great epidemics of poliomyelitis have been reported from Australia, it has
not been a great cause of mortality, and so inoculation or feeding with living
attenuated virus cannot have greatly affected the mortality from all causes.
The major decline in polio deaths in Britain occurred between 1950 and 1956,
still two years before widespread vaccination commenced. In 1950 the deaths were a
high 755, but dropped to a low of 137 in 1956, a reduction of 82 per cent. Without
extensive vaccination there was a similar decline in Europe. Dr Robert Mendelsohn, in
his book, How To Raise A Healthy Child In Spite Of Your Doctor, said:
.....the fact is that no credible scientific evidence exists that the vaccine caused polio
to disappear .... it also disappeared in other parts of the world where the vaccine
was not so extensively used.
At this point I would like to deviate a little. My wife contracted polio in 1955,
at the age of twenty, but did not suffer permanent paralysis. She was told to lay still
and not to fight the spasms. Others in the same ward, who did not heed the advice but
were victims of fear and terror, kept on getting out of bed and trying to walk so as to
fight off the spasms. My wife remembers seeing at least one those people later, who
did not succeed but ended up paralyzed.
As to the cause of paralysis in polio, Herbert Shelton, who was successful in
treating hundreds of polio cases, says in his book, Hygeine Care of Children:
The drug treatment is, I am convinced, the chief, if not the only cause of permanent
paralysis. Analgesics and anodynes to relieve pain, anti-pyretics to reduce fever,
anti-phlogistics to suppress inflammation....are all suppressive.....By such
suppressive measures the inflammation is made worse and caused to persist for a
longer time, so that tissue destruction with the consequent paralysis, is almost
inevitable.....I have seen no paralysis develop in any cases where such suppressive
measures are not employed. I am firmly convinced that the medical profession is
directly responsible for all, or nearly all of the permanent paralysis and deformity
that result from poliomyelitis. [Emphasis added]
Scarlet Fever
From the way scarlet fever declined without vaccination or antibiotics we can
see that vaccination was not necessary. Around 1900 there were 4,000 to 5,000 deaths
per annum in England, but by 1923 the death rate had dropped to 1,000 and by 1950
dropped to less than 33 per annum.
The records show that in New York City, USA, deaths from scarlet fever went
from 155 per 100,000 population to 2 per 100,000 without the help of vaccines, serums
or antitoxins. The same sort of reductions occurred in other US states. (Hygienic Care
of Children, H. Shelton).
Ian Sinclair produced many graphs on all the diseases in England & Wales,
USA, France, Sweden, Denmark and Australia. The above information and the graphs
in his book, VACCINATION The “Hidden” Facts, provide clear evidence that the
major decline in mortality from infectious disease occurred BEFORE vaccination
commenced, and what’s more, that the introduction of widespread vaccination had
virtually no impact on the decline in the death rate thereafter.
The evidence shows that the introduction of vaccination had no impact on the
rate of decline for the different diseases, and in the cases of smallpox in the UK,
diphtheria in France and Denmark, there was an increase in the death rate after
vaccination was made compulsory and enforced on the people.
I urge anyone interested in the subject of vaccination to read Ian Sinclair’s
book. Copies of his book can be obtained by writing to Ian Sinclair, 5 Ivy Street, Ryde,
NSW, 2112, Australia.
Phone 02 808 3691 or the updated 02 9808 3691. (ISBN 0-646-08812-2)
The propaganda in favour of immunization has won the minds of the masses and has
influenced medical thinking, and government and international measures, relating to
disease control. This has been at the expense of methods which might have raised
the real level of well-being of the people at risk. This begins to impinge upon the
realm of politics and economics, for the gains are great in this area, and the truth is
not always palatable. The removal of the idea of protection, via immunization, and
the implementation of expensive measures to improve nutrition in countries which
can hardly make ends meet, would not be welcome themes for politicians, even if
they could be made to listen to the facts.
Today, mankind lives under the greedy political, religious, medical, and
commercial systems. We are witness to the greedy display by the commercial interests
behind the vaccine drive, which nets them millions of dollars annually. In the book The
Poisoned Needle, Eleanor McBean PhD says:
The vaccine business has continued to thrive in spite of its disastrous failure, for the
mere reason that it nets millions of dollars for the promoters, and this buys power
with governments and propaganda control over the masses who don’t know how to
think for themselves.
Take all the profit out of manufacturing and administration of serums and
vaccines and they would soon be condemned, even by those who are now using
them.
Ian Sinclair reported on the comments by Dr John Keller on the strategy of ‘fear’ to
entice people into vaccination, and Dr Keller said:
Since people cannot be vaccinated against their will, the biggest job of a health
department has always been and always will be to persuade the unprotected people
to get vaccinated. This we attempted to do in three ways: first by education, second
by fright; and third by pressure. We dislike very much to mention fright and
pressure. Yet they accomplish more than education because they work faster than
education, which is normally a slow process. During the months of March and
April, we tried education and vaccinated only 62,000. During May we made use of
fright and pressure and vaccinated 223,000 people.
Without question, the polio and just recent ‘swine flu’ programs were based
shamefully and unabashedly on FEAR, just as unscrupulous politicians have for
years exploited this hidden, subconscious motivating factor within human nature.
When it comes to vaccination many make sure that the people are lied to about
the risk of severe epidemics of killer diseases if vaccination is not adhered to. The
people become afraid and readily present themselves and their children for vaccination.
Adolf Hitler was given great power over men. He was skilled at telling lies, and
he is reported to have said:
When you tell a lie loud enough, often enough, and big enough, the people will
eventually believe it.
The majority of people are so confused about health they do not know what is
the correct way of living a healthy life. Many other people with vested interests work
towards keeping the masses ignorant of the truth. Most of the people today want to
believe in vaccination and the approved medical treatment. They find that it is easy to
let others worry about the answers, and so they blindly put faith in programs put
forward by their governments who have no idea what is really going on but are mainly
puffed up with pride as they promote their programs.
People wish to continually indulge themselves in their unhealthy pursuits and
receive a magic pill or injection to heal them. They do not want to have to think about
health, but want to leave it to others. In his book Mirage of Health, Professor Rene
Dubos makes comment along these lines, saying:
The faith in the magical power of drugs often blunts the critical senses, and comes
close at times to a mass hysteria, involving scientists and laymen alike. Men want
miracles as much today as in the past. If they do not join one of the newer cults,
they satisfy this need by worshipping the altar of modern science. This faith in the
magical power of drugs is not new. It helped to give the authority of a priesthood
and to recreate the glamour of ancient mysteries.
Vaccination is not necessary, not useful, does not protect. There are twice as
many casualties from vaccination as from AIDS. Dr Gerhard Buchwald.
Vaccines are made from infected mucus, excrement, fermented embryos and
until recently, diseased monkey kidneys, and cause LEUKEMIA, ENCEPHALITIS,
MS, and now are the explanation to AIDS. World Health Organization Adviser.
Every vaccine carries certain hazards and can produce inward reactions in some
people....in general there are more vaccine complications than is generally appreciated.
Prof. George Dick, London University.
Vaccine Ineffectiveness
A large whooping cough outbreak took place in Casino, NSW at the end of
1994. The public health unit did a retrospective study which found that more than 86%
of the cases took place in children who were over 6 tears of age. More than 80% of
them had been fully vaccinated against whooping cough.
Parents’ Stories
My first daughter within 24 hours of her third vaccine reacted with screaming.
Following this was a barrage of sickness including bronchitis, eczema, constant doses
of antibiotics and finally, she was diagnosed with asthma. This I could not accept
coming from a loving, healthy environment. Vaccination was a trigger for these
illnesses and I refused to vaccinate my second child who now, at 4 years of age, is
100% healthy and has never had any medication. Susan and Kent, Brisbane.
We believe in Natural Health. After reading and resourcing many books and
journals, we decided against vaccination for our children. Our children are strong and
healthy. Please research this issue for yourself and your children. Roxanne and
Silveister, Shailer Park.
My first child died as a result of his triple antigen (DPT) vaccine. It was a long,
slow death. None of my 3 subsequent children have been vaccinated and have not
contracted any of the so-called vaccine preventable diseases. Stephanie and Ian,
Alexandra Hills.
My eldest son had a seizure within hours of his second DPT injection. He
became brain-damaged as a result and will need care for the rest of his life. We were
never warned that this could happen. Peta and Graham, Mullumbimby.
My son began projectile vomiting and convulsing within moments of getting his
first DPT vaccine. The doctor told me this was perfectly normal. My son is now an
epileptic. Name and address withheld by request.
VAN, P. O. Box 177, Bangalow, NSW 2479. Phone: 066 871 699, FAX: 066
972 032.
VAIS, P. O. Box 9086, Manly West, QLD 4179, FAX: 07 3893 2423.
Vaccination Warning
By Shirley Lewis
It’s now over a year since the Immunization Investigation Group launched an
Australian national register of vaccine damage and failure. A report on the progress of
the register so far:
The idea for a register came from Sue Brown, a Victorian mother who spent 15
months nursing her son back to health after his DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, whooping
cough) shot at six months. “He immediately started screaming, went glassy-eyed, had a
high fever for a week and didn’t eat or sleep for ten days.” Sue tried many different
forms of natural therapies including nutritional therapy, homeopathy and faith healing.
Sue’s suggestion to start a register of similar cases got no response from
Melbourne Children’s Hospital or Victorian Health Department officials. Sue
contacted the Immunization Investigation Group (IIG).
The IIG formed in 1987 when the NSW Government announced that
immunization would be, not compulsory but ‘a condition of entry’ to state schools. The
wording was effective: without actually making immunization compulsory, it gave the
impression that it was so. Many pre-schools and private hospitals began insisting that
children seeking admission be vaccinated. Scared their kids might be picked on, or
urged on by well-meaning grandparents and unable to get comprehensive information
from their GPs, many parents agreed to the shots. An unfortunate few already know the
consequences.
The IIG collects information questioning the value and safety of immunization.
Membership includes parents, health professionals and individuals concerned about
peoples’ right to informed choice. Doctors are few, but groups are springing up in all
states, and more groups will be welcomed.
Since the register opened in March 1991, a steady stream of calls and letters has
come from all states about vaccine damage and failures. People phone to congratulate,
often to cry. Sometimes they’ve suffered alone, for years. Among the callers was one
doctor from the NSW Health Department who, although pro-immunization himself, is
willing to consider questions most doctors prefer to ignore. This doctor and a few
others are now working with the IIG, and New Zealand doctor David Ritchie, on a
questionnaire which will database the experiences of Australians for whom
immunization wasn’t worthwhile. Such a co-operative effort could be a world first. At
the time of writing, the NSW Health Department has put forward a proposal to the state
government that it should be made compulsory for doctors to report all cases of
suspected or confirmed vaccine damage. This is an important development.
Vaccination Tragedies
Early reports to the register reveal tragic stories (some names changed):
In 1962 Milvie, 18 months, convulsed immediately after her second DTP shot.
Her development had slowed markedly after the first shot and the second was given
without consent from her mother, Mary. Milvie’s father, who was devastated, left
home and for 30 years Mary has lived alone with her now grown up child, who can
speak four words. For years she was unable to get any help from the government––not
even a wheelchair or a stroller were available in the ‘60s and Mary, a refugee from
Estonia, was regarded with suspicion by the neighbours, and left severely alone by
most. She’s still campaigning for compensation.
Mary taught Milvie to walk by carrying her around on her own feet, until she
was in her teens. Half the time, Milvie still walks backwards. Ironically this immense
triumph for Milvie further imprisons Mary––the kitchen must be locked because Milvie
doesn’t understand heat or cold and could burn or electrocute herself; the front door is
locked because Milvie doesn’t understand traffic. None of the day-care places Milvie
could go to, lock their doors, so Mary doesn’t even feel it’s safe to leave Milvie there.
Ruth’s daughter Rachel, whose photos show she developed normally until DTP
immunization, afterwards deteriorated steadily until she died, aged nine. On moving to
Randwick to be near out-patient care for Rachel’s frequent fitting and chest problems
Ruth too faced almost total isolation. “In Cabramatta we lived in a busy street, so I
could look out the window and see people walking up and down; children would come
in to play with Rachel’s sister; they all knew Rachel and wanted her to get well. But in
Randwick we lived in a quiet street; people were strangers. There was nothing to watch
through the windows. Parents feared their children might ‘catch it’. No one visited.”
Ruth’s husband gave little support but she could not leave him––there were no
single mother’s pensions in the ‘60s. She took antidepressants for years, became an
alcoholic and, although now reformed, still feels terrible about the care she couldn’t
give her other daughter.
At 8pm, the day of her measles shot in 1981, Sarah’s mother heard ‘a sound like
a death rattle,’ coming from her room. She found Sarah unconscious in her cot, body in
spasm, legs and arms twisted. Jane, then eight months pregnant with her third child,
took Sarah straight to her GP in Woy Woy. “The doctor gave her oxygen and sent us
off to Gosford, then Camperdown. He handed me the empty vaccine packet. He had
tears in his eyes. ‘Don’t expect her to live through the night, Jane,’ he said. I’ve heard
he didn’t give vaccinations for years after that.”
Sarah a lovely child can’t walk or do anything except shove her fingers in her
mouth. She may walk some day. Three years ago Jane and Ted borrowed money at
high interest and built a new house to suit Sarah. “Money’s really tight, but I can’t get
a job––there’s nowhere Sarah can go in the holidays.”
Jane’s marriage, wonderfully, has survived. “When Sarah first came home, I
used to cry in the shower. Ted would say other people were worse off; then I found out
he was crying in the car, coming home from work.”
Enquiries about the register and the work of the Immunisation Investigation
Group should be directed to PO Box 900. Katoomba 2780, enclosing a stamped
addressed envelope for reply, and a donation to cover photocopying of articles and
information if required.