Authorities drop legal bid to force baby's vaccination

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian child welfare authorities on Tuesday ended a legal bid to force a couple to vaccinate their six-day-old baby against hepatitis B after the family went into hiding, authorities said.

The New South Wales Department of Community Services decided to drop its pursuit of the couple as it is now too late for the immunisation against the disease that causes liver cancer and cirrhosis to be effective.

"It appears that the parents of a newborn at risk of contracting hepatitis B have not presented their baby for medical treatment," the department said in a statement.

"According to medical advice, there is no longer sufficient evidence of the effectiveness of any vaccination," it said, shortly after the expiry of a court order forcing the...