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Vaccine programs
The introduction of vaccine programs has led to a worldwide reduction in childhood illnesses, “immunisation is frequently cited as one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in human history”. However, despite this claim there are still many illnesses or vaccine preventable diseases which still occur. Vaccine programs offer benefits for the individual and community as a whole.

How vaccines work
Vaccinations work by introducing a small amount of the disease pathogen in an altered form into the body. The pathogen is altered in such a way that they cannot induce the full disease. When a vaccine is administered, the body recognises the altered pathogen as the disease and produces specific antibodies to fight the disease that the pathogen would normally induce. In this process the immune system builds up an immunity or a resistance to the infection. Some examples of the effectiveness of vaccines include diphtheria, haemophilius influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough and polio, all of which have a greater than eighty percent immunity rate.

Potential concerns about the risks of childhood vaccines
Despite the obvious health benefits of immunisation, many people still decide to go without, as they are concerned about the effectiveness or potential risks of vaccines. These concerns originally stemmed from an article published that claimed that links had been found between immunisation and autism. This article was originally published in 1998 by Andrew Wakefield, and found a supposed link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. However the Lancet removed this paper from publication in 2010 as the paper was fraudulent. In the twelve years that this paper was published it caused a drop in vaccinations and a rise in measles mumps and rubella and other vaccine preventable diseases.

The consequences
Articles such as the one created by Andrew Wakefield have created mistrust and speculation as to the effectiveness of vaccinations. Its this fear and mistrust that has convinced many parents that it is not worth or not safe to have their children immunised. This decision is not without consequences, as according to The Department of Health Western Australia Immunisation Strategy, 581 deaths have been recorded in western Australia between 1989 and 1998 from vaccine preventable childhood diseases. As well as this there has been an increase in doctors visits and hospitalisation, absences from school and work and even permanent injuries or disabilities and in some cases, premature death. These are all things that could have been prevented, had these people had regular vaccines.

With plenty of myths and speculation as to the effectiveness of vaccines it is easy for parents to harbor doubts about the effectiveness of vaccine programs. However these speculations are based purely on myths that have no real research behind them. Research has been conducted to prove the benefits of vaccines with children being able to be immunised against diseases such as diphtheria, haemophilius influenza, measles and mumps without contracting illnesses such as autism or diabetes.