Guest Work • Jun 13, 2017 •
By Rebecca Chisholm, University of Melbourne and Nicholas Geard, University of Melbourne Australia was declared measles-free in 2014. However, the recent importation of a case of measles into Australia from Indonesia illustrates the threat this disease still poses to Australians. It also underscores the importance of maintaining high vaccination rates against rare diseases to … Read More
Guest Work • Apr 14, 2017 •
Allen Cheng, Monash University and Kristine Macartney, University of Sydney As we head towards a southern hemisphere winter, many people are wondering if it’s worth getting the flu vaccine. Generally speaking, if you are vaccinated, you’re less likely to get the flu. But that’s not the whole story. For most healthy people, it’s … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Apr 12, 2017 •
I’m losing far too much of my writing time to people with misbegotten ideas about vaccines.* I know people are very keen to make their own decisions. It’s understandable, but I wish if they insist on making their own decisions that they’d take equally as much care about the information they’re using to make their decisions — and … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Apr 08, 2017 •
Below are a few links to resources that people might find useful to share – or read if you want a quick introduction to vaccines for kids. Short takes For really short takes, these brochures—all in PDF format—might be useful. They make key points in few words: Immunization: Get the facts – a Canadian brochure covering 5 key concerns … Read More
Guest Work • Mar 30, 2017 •
By Dave Hawkes, University of Melbourne The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was introduced in Australia in 2007 and New Zealand in 2008 to prevent cervical cancer. It was free for women up to age 26 in Australia and to all women under 20 in New Zealand. This is because 99.7% of cervical cancers are associated with the sexually transmissible … Read More
Guest Work • Dec 20, 2016 •
Andrew Maynard, Arizona State University and Dietram A. Scheufele, University of Wisconsin-Madison Truth seems to be an increasingly flexible concept in politics. At least that’s the impression the Oxford English Dictionary gave recently, as it declared “post-truth” the 2016 Word of the Year. What happens when decisions are based on misleading or blatantly wrong information? … Read More
John Kerr • Nov 10, 2016 •
Donald Trump has been elected to the be the next President of the United States. What does this mean for science? Already journalists, academics and pundits are scrambling to analyse the impact his presidency will have on every facet of, well, everything. Here at Sciblogs we’ve rounded up some of the key points on science emerging from the coverage. Scientists respond … Read More
Helen Petousis Harris • Jul 28, 2016 •
Today PHARMAC announced their changes to funded vaccines. Basically they did what PHARMAC do, and within their given budget they negotiated the best deal they could with the suppliers to prevent as much disease as possible. After all, that is what we want them to do on our behalf. So who wins and who loses? The reality is, that like … Read More
Michael Edmonds • Feb 09, 2013 •
While browsing at the bookshop today I came across the self styled New Zealand “Journal” of Natural Medicine, one of the most concentrated examples of quackery promotion that I have ever seen. Articles include: Eczema and the Homeopathic “Direction of Cure” The End of Antibiotics and the rise of Iodine as an effective Alternative DNA can be Reprogrammed by Words … Read More
Michael Edmonds • Dec 20, 2012 •
Earlier this year, another sciblogger Darcy Cowan was successful in getting the tax exempt status of the Immunisation Awareness Society revoked based on the fact that they don’t fulfil the requirements of charity (see here). One of the things that bothered me about the IAS at the time is that although they claim on their website to “To debate vaccination issues … Read More