Medicines Australia

Requirements and safety

Are vaccines still required and are they safe?

In countries with broad immunisation coverage people rarely encounter vaccine preventable diseases (VDPs) such as diphtheria, and consequently the motivation for vaccination can wane. Indeed, some people in Australia question whether it is still essential to vaccinate themselves or their children against VDPs?

The public should be conscious of the continued need to ensure that adults and children are vaccinated adequately throughout their lifetime.

Three main reasons to ensure children and adults are adequately immunised include:

1. some diseases are still so common (pertussis or whooping cough) that a choice not to get vaccinated is a choice to risk disease
2. some diseases continue to infect small numbers of children and adolescents (measles, mumps, German measles and Hib) so a drop in immunisation levels would allow new outbreaks of the disease
3. some diseases have been virtually eliminated from Australia (polio, diphtheria) but are still prevalent in other parts of the world and could be imported by travelers

Immunisation reduces the number of people who contract disease or become carriers and therefore potential opportunities for exposure to the disease. Some infections like whooping cough, varicella and measles are so very highly infectious or transmissible that Australia requires at least 95% of the population to be immune to prevent infections passing between people.

Vaccination is not compulsory in Australia. Whilst the average rate for childhood immunisation across the country is over 90%, many communities fall well below this average, thus increasing the risk of outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases in these communities. ¹

It is true that newborn babies are immune to many diseases because they receive antibodies from their mothers. However, the duration of this immunity may last anywhere from a month to about a year, dependent upon the immunity of the mother. Further, many young children do not receive antibodies from their mother against some vaccine preventable diseases, such as whooping cough.

To learn more about the value of “herd immunity”, childhood vaccinations, and the need for “adult booster” vaccinations please visit the National Centre for Immunisation and Research (NCIRS). This video was produced by the National Centre for Immunisation and Research (NCIRS) in conjunction with the Medicines Australia Vaccine Industry Group (MAVIG).

Furthermore, in an effort to provide awareness and reminders for families to schedule booster vaccinations with their local GP, the national immunisation register has been established in association with your local GP. Visit the website for an up to date list of booster shots required for your family.

References

Page updated: March 2011