You're right Inanna - the channel is irrelevant. The fact that all of 'current affairs & community interest' programs have a vested interest in producing alarming & sensationalist tripe is relevant. They are journalists collecting information to use on a pariticular angle that will gain them ratings. From ratings, they have businesses vying for advertising space - which is where the money comes in.

My point: the more frightening/outragious the claims, the more ratings. They are ensuring their income by not presenting a balanced story. Who wants to hear them say, "the world is lovely & nothing at all went wrong today". Vaccinations (& teh risks of) are a hot & emotional topic, and an obvious choice for them is to seek out anecdotal opinions from sources that will support their angle.

Again - look at the age of the 'references'. 1989??? I was 9 years old! ya don't think we've made some medical science since then? And that two-sentence quote mentions nothing of areas with poor vaccination coverage (and the severity of the outbreak).

This is my point.