SInlge jabs from your gp

[popsycal]

has anyone ever approached their gp to ask for single M, M and R jabs?
I didn't thikn that you could (naive?) but a friends of my mum's who is a doctor's receptionist says that some doctors will do it, but you do have to pay.
My doctor is very nice and knows us as a family.
What do you think? Has anyone tried this?

[popsycal]

did you go for single jabs elsewhere or the mmr?

[Jimjams]

Most can't / won't as they have to do it on a named patient basis which means they are reposnsible if it all goes horribly wrong (or something). So understandably they won't.

My GP did try for me with ds1 (before there were any autism suspicions) but couldn't get any.

Some private GP's will give single jabs on a named patient basis. We eventually gots ds1's measles jab from a private GP in Egham- but it is usually cheaper to go to direct health etc (this was before dorect health existed). In fact I paid him for a mumps jab I'm never going to use now so if he can get hold of it you're welcome to it. No idea whether he's still working - as we haven't vaccinated ds2 at all- but his name is Dr Seyedi, and he was very nice and very professional.

[popsycal]

I can't believe that I am still having this dilemma so many months down the line

[Jimjams]

read up on metallothionein - I'm very excited by this research- basically gives a mechanism by which kiddies may become autistic. MMR can be implicated but the biggest evil may be mercury in baby vaccines, dental work in mother, tuna etc blah de blah Anyway the guy behind this research thinks that it might be implicated in the reason that some kids can't cope with the MMR. Have a read on his webiste - he may give signs of a dodgy metallothionein function (one is dodgy Cu/Zn ratio but that's not easy to measure!)

If you're that worried though why not just give singles?

If you're really tha

[Jimjams]

whoops ignore last half line.

[popsycal]

i am failry sure that i dont want him to have mmr. rang docs afew weeks ago to tell them not to bother sending any more appointments
now i am just panicking about singles!!! I need to hae something to panic about!!!
i read your other thread about this substance....do you know if it is in the singles?
do you know the website as i am quite intersted in this research
and as for tuna.....is it suggested to be dangerous enough to stop eating?

[Jimjams]

depends on your metallothionein function. If its normal then you can eat quite a lot, if its dodgy then its best limited or avoided. Of course I used to give it to DS1 at least once a week- which was perhaps not the best thing to have done considering he almost certainly has a metallothionein deficit.

Most of the stuff is about thimerosil and heavy metals. Thimerosil is not in the single jabs.

Can I dig out the webstes later? Have a search for metallothionein and william walsh and you'll probably get quite a lot- including some fairly accessable interviews. The brief bit I've read on the MMR basically hinted that the problem may be with multiple viruses (no proof of course though).

There have been a few adverse reactions (of the autism kind) after single jabs but not nearly so many as after the MMR. TBH its not really that surprising - a natural infection from measles in infancy can increase the risk of autism, and rubella in pregnancy can lead to the foetus devloping autism (if maternal rubella is caught very early on in pregnancy).

You could always leave it until your child is older if you are really worried. Walsh seems to think there's less of a problem after the age of about 3 as the brain has matured sufficiently by then. Actually that ties in with Sunderland who told me to keep ds2 gluten free until about age 5 if I wanted to be extra careful (I am and he is).

[popsycal]

Thanks jimjams! Lots of helpful stuff as always!!

[Davrosthesnowman]

My GP spontaneously printed off info for me about where to go to get them which was v. kind and helpful

[Jimjams]

OK had a quick browse and came across this which is a tabloidy article summarising all the biomedical causes of autism

www.vancourier.com/012103/news/012103nn1.html (very tabloidy but easy reading - which can't be said of most of the biomedical articles on autism!)

This one is fairly detailed and there is a bit about metallothionein towards the end

www.autisminfo.com/DANOct2001.htm

That'll keep you busy!

Think you may have to toss a coin in the end though

[popsycal]

i am not getting the mmr
final
but do i get single jabs or none?
and if so, when!!!
argh!

[Jimjams]

up to you!

You have the following choices

all the jabs singly
one or 2 of the jabs singly
none of the jabs singly
one or 2 of the jabs singly now and the reamining later (eg measles now and either mumps or rubella later depending on whether you have a boy or girl).

Depends how scared you are of each of the individual diseases really. Mumps and rubella would almost certainly be mild for your child, so the only reason to get them done is "social responsibility" (in inverted commas coz I don't buy into that).

measles can be nasty- usually isn't. Have a look in 2nd hand book shops for family medical guides form the 1980's and earlier to get a realistic portrayal of measles.

Then decide whcih scares you most vaccination or disease and hey presto decision made!

Did you get The Vaccine Guide by Randall Neudstaedter. He takes you through all these risk/benefit equations

[popsycal]

thanks jimjams!!
ythat has really helped actually
havent heard of the publication that you mention....

[Jimjams]

amazon stocks it!

[Jimjams]

it's the best book I've read on the topic popsycal. He clearly sets out risks and benefits and also advises on safe vaccination if you decide to go for it. Very well referenced as well.

[popsycal]

cool
i will look
about to order some stuff from there anyway!

[popsycal]

bugger - take 3-5 weeks to deliver it!!

[Evansmum]

Um, Jimjams, don't dismiss the social resposibility issue with rubella. If your child infects a pregnant woman with rubella, her baby may well be severely affected. I was at school with a girl who had heart problems and was partially deaf as a result of contracting this disease in in the womb. Would you want that on your conscience? EVERYONE should vaccinate their children against rubella, whether with single jabs or MMR.

[zebra]

I wouldn't want it on my conscience, either, Evansmum, but don't dismiss the difficulty most people have of thinking they may be doing active harm to a person they love most in the world.

In my most cynical moments I think it's a huge problem with the British, in general, that such altruistic reasons for vax are very rarely mentioned. I find the Brits extremely selfish in such respects.

[Jimjams]

Evansmum- the reason I don;t buy into this is for two reasons.

1. I'm not convinced that it is the most effective way to prevent rubella. DS1 caught rubella from an unvaccinated child who caught it from a vaccinated child who spread it everywhere becuase the mum didn't realise her child had rubella (after all he'd been vaccinated). I knew that ds1 had rubella and kept him in isolation. We didn't spread it to anyone.
   
2. Any vaccination carries with it a risk. In most cases the recipient stands to gain from the vaccination themselves. IN the case of rubella for boyus this is not true.
   
3. I have a child who I believe was partly vaccine damaged. Read the stuff on metallothionein if you want to see how it all began. I don't have hordes of people with bleeding hearts rushing to my aid. In fact most people don't even want us anywhere near them. I'm afraid my social responsibility is all used up.
   
   If someone could guarantee that my children could be vaccinated safely (both for them and society) then I would do it. But they can't. I haven't given ds2 the potential benefits of any vaccination (left him exposed to the potential risks). That is my choice. I do live with the conseuqences of brain damage every day, and I'm not about to take any chances with my normal little 2 year old. If that makes me selfish beyond belief so be it.

[Jimjams]

Make that 3 reasons.

[Evansmum]

Jimjams, I was concerned at the impression that rubella isn't important. Appreciate you have a particularly painful experience. And no vaccination is 100 per cent effective in every recipient - that's why there are catch-up programmes. But boys are at risk from rubella - in the womb. If people leave their boys unvaccinated it means there is a pool of infection out there threatening pregnant women who aren't immune ... that's why the system has been changed since we were kids (when they used to offer girls the jab but leave boys unvaccinated).

[Davrosthesnowman]

I really don't see why babies and young children, especially boys, should be vaccinated against Rubella to protect pregnant women/unborn children. Surely it makes more sense to vaccinate pre-pubescent girls? When I first thought about having a baby I went to my Dr to find out if I was immune, not knowingly having had the disease. OK, not everyone will do that but why is it not targeted at those it will affect, females who will have the ability to become pregnant?

[Davrosthesnowman]

sorry evansmum, posted at the same time. I can see what you mean about the pool of potential infection now with boys but I still think there must be a better way than jabbing all babies.