A fascinating story out of Australia in which The Daily Telegraph profile two ex-hippies who have decided to fight back against anti-vaccination myths in an area of the country, Mullumbimby, where immunizations are among the lowest. Heidi Robertson and Allison Gaylard were brought up in hippie households and are now heading a group dedicated to counter misinformation about immunizations by an anti-vaccination group, respectfully.

Apparently after Ms. Gaylard gave birth a friend of hers introduced her to a local anti-vaccine activist and Gaylord was urged not to vaccinate her baby. She was outraged and not only vaccinated her baby but also left the mothers group she joined because they were buying into the anti-vaccine nonsense. Thanks to the low vaccination rate in Northern New South Wales, both of Gaylard’s immunized daughters caught pertussis as part of an epidemic outbreak that took place there in 2012.

Ms. Robertson came to her conclusion to embrace mainstream medicine (including vaccinations) after she had realized it was her lifestyle and search for alternate therapies to cure her chronic fatigue. She had hit rock bottom and realized she had been gullible the whole time. Fortunately, she changed her mind and life. Both women are the subject of regular scorn by anti-vaxxers but I salute them for their bravery and tenacity.

“These peace-loving tolerant people can be extremely nasty on the subject of vaccination so we try to be calm and polite and rational,” Mrs Robertson said.

The issue of vaccines and vaccinations isn’t just about saving lives as much as it is a philosophical debate on the rights of individuals. People who refuse to vaccinate despite medical evidence being overwhelmingly against their conclusion not only impose a risk on the lives of innocent people but also knowingly can abridge the rights of another.

A virus is similar to a life form and someone who is unvaccinated can end up being a host of an pathogen that can mutate into a deadlier strain which can spread quickly among people. This, in turn, would lead to hundreds of thousands of people end up being sick or dying. It happened during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918. The casualties from that event resulted in more deaths than World War I and if people don’t vaccinate it can happen again.