PhD Thesis - ResearchSpace@Auckland - The University of Auckland

CHAPTER 8: ‘Crises of Confidence?’
Vaccine controversies and medical and public responses 1973-1990
As memories of the disastrous effects of infectious diseases prior to vaccine use
receded, moves to immunise children against potentially non-life threatening illnesses
(such as measles and rubella) led some health professionals and parents to reassess the
benefits versus the risks of immunisations. Medical researchers have found that ‘once
high vaccine uptake and herd immunity are attained, perceived vaccine risks tend to
deter individuals from being vaccinated’. 1 This chapter will consider primarily the
controversies that occurred during this period in New Zealand and will also set these
in context by looking at events in other countries, in particular, Britain and the United
States. How the New Zealand Health Department and health professionals dealt with
these controversies and their impact on the immunising public will form a key part of
the chapter.
By 1973 the Health Department was offering vaccines to protect against an array of
diseases, with measles and rubella being the latest additions. In 1974, 55 percent of
eligible infants had received the triple vaccine and 59 percent had their polio
immunisations. 2 Nevertheless uptake for measles had been slow; in the Dunedin
Health District in 1973 it was found that only 47.8 percent of new school entrants had
been immunised for measles, with rubella at 61.9 percent. 3 As all these figures were
below the desired level the Department wished to increase public confidence in
immunisation in order to improve herd immunity. Negative publicity for vaccines was
therefore considered undesirable and to be avoided if possible.
Polio Vaccine and SV40 1974
In October 1973 an article was published in the Lancet by two New Zealand doctors,
Diane Baguley and Gavin Glasgow of the Auckland University Medical School. This
article reported that the Salk vaccine used in the 1950s contained the monkey virus
1
E. J. Gangarosa, A. M. Galazka, C. R. Wolfe, L. M. Phillips, R. E. Gangarosa, E. Miller, R. T. Chen,
‘Impact of anti-vaccine movements on pertussis control: the untold story’, The Lancet, 351, 1998,
p.360.
2
ABQU 632 W4452/913 54679 144/17/10 Sera and Vaccines: Polio: alleged contamination of the
polio vaccine, ANZ, Wellington.
3
AAFB 632 W3463/83 47692 144/18/1 Rubella Immunisation 1971-77, ANZ, Wellington.
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