Why would you not vaccinate?

[lizzlebizzle33]

Has anybody decided against vaccinations for their children? If so what were your reasons?

[dementedpixie]

Why do you ask? Do you vaccinate?

[Pagwatch]

Mind your own business

[lizzlebizzle33]

Completely undecided, more than likely will but I know some people choose not to I just wondered what their reasons were

[lizzlebizzle33]

Wow... Just wondering that's all, you don't have to tell me!!

[84CharingCrossRoad]

Ds2 didn't get his MMR until he was 16. He had unexplained fits at 3 weeks old and the GP couldn't guarantee he wouldn't fit again after the MMR.
The only reason he had it at 16 was because the area where he was at school had a measles epidemic and if he caught it he might lose what hearing he did have...

[FrizzyNoodles]

People often don't vaccinate because they think the diseases we vaccinate against are very rare and hardly kill anyone.
They don't think a little further to consider why they are rare.

[Rainbowqueeen]

Only reason I can think of is medical advice not to due to a medical issue

No other genuine reasons

[londonista]

You may as well ask why the Flat Earth Society still exists, and taking on new members.

[eurochick]

Personal circumstances or people believe the tin foil hat brigade.

Our daughter has had all the standard vaccinations, plus extra ones for chicken pox and men b (she was born a few months early to get men b on the standard schedule). However, she was born in an area where the TB vaccination is standard at birth. I had a severe allergic reaction to mine as a teen, and was wary about giving it to my weak, prem baby so elected to wait a few months until she was stronger. By then we had moved to an area where it isn't given. So she hasn't had it because of our personal circumstances.

[nbroots]

Some people like to know what is injected into their children and read the actual studies that were done. What the actual risks are vs the actual disease and then choose. There are lots of conditions that can be triggered by vaccination and one then has to then ask what would you prefer? It is Russian roulette, either way you decide. The vaccine schedule has increased from 8 in 1970 up to 54 in 2018 for babies up to 16 weeks (not including the 1 year shots). Are children healthier because of it? What do you see today that you did not 30-40 years ago? Some will blast you about heard immunity yet they themselves have not had the full schedule and they fail to realise that vaccinated people can carry the disease and spread it to other people because they do not display symptoms.. eg Whooping cough.. The Whooping cough vaccine only protects the individual and not the wider community (for a short time. It does not give life long immunity where the actual disease does). This is the wrong place to ask questions sadly. You will get attacked! It's better to ask questions in a group where they value a parents right to make informed decisions.

[AuntLydia]

I looked into what was actually injected into my children and looked at all the relevant studies. I weighed up the risks of vaccination v the risks of not vaccinating. I will continue to do this every time my child is offered a vaccine. To this date I have never found any legitimate, compelling evidence or study to suggest any risk to my children in the current vaccination schedule (I should add none of them have any underlying health conditions). I found plenty of evidence to suggest there was a risk to my child if they contracted mmr/whopping cough etc.

There is a lot of speculation and suggestion about the risks involved in vaccination - and it can all look very legitimate. Presumably other people are convinced enough by this.

[sportyfool]

I did all the major ones but didn't give my son the flu vax at school . I personally feel that if they have a good immune system then these flu jabs can mess it up . The swine flu situation put me off about 10 years ago.

[mustbemad17]

Mine all have had their recommended jabs & this one will too. I find that a lot of the 'research' people bring up about not vaccinating their kids is out dated or revolves around 'DD1 didn't have them & is fine' - wonderful, lucky you. Ever watched a child suffer with whooping cough? Know anyone whose lost a baby to measles? Believe me when i say not nice. And all things we can reduce the risk of

[itsbetterthanabox]

There aren’t 54 jabs given to kids in the U.K.!

[BarbieBrightSide]

Absolutely personal choice, but I would not be able to forgive myself if one of my children had life changing outcomes or even died from a disease I could have given some degree of protection from via a vaccine. All of my children have have been vaccinated according to the recommended schedule at that time.

I used to work for a vaccine company so perhaps have a slightly different view to some, having seen how bad these diseases can be.

And despite having read Andrew Wakefield's initial communication which was published in the Lancet and knowing how poor it was scientifically, I was still anxious about the MMR when my children had it (I'm only human!) but they all did have it.

[ineedwine99]

My daughter has had all hers up to date (17m old) plus chickenpox. The diseases may be rare but they won't be if people stop vaccinating.
Chicken pox has been a very good decision seeing as before Christmas 10 children had it in nursery and she's not caught it.
The ones i was always most adamant she had were the meningitis ones, i would have paid for those if i had to.

[nbroots]

Again bad things can happen either way. I know people with vaccine injuries and one that died. We don't have a Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme for nothing. It has paid out over £74 million & the U.S version has paid out over $3 billion. They don't give out payments easily! It's a topic that has pros & cons and no one will ever agree especially in places like this. Luckily we still have a choice in this country to decide on medical treatment.

[AuntLydia]

Yeah where did you get 54 from?! This schedule is nothing like that for babies up to 16 weeks! www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/childhood-vaccines-timeline/?

Good example of the misinformation you can see about vaccination on the Internet though

[EggsonHeads]

My children have been fully vaccinated and I mean fully (we've had all the extra shots that a standard during childhood that the NHS doesn't do as standard plus non standard vaccines for diseases that our children are likely to be exposed to like chicken pox and TB respectively). However, I am not fully vaccinated-I haven't had HPV. The HPV vaccine came out the year before I would have been routinely given it and there were a lot of reports of adverse reactions and a death linked to it. My parents thought that it was just media hype but were a bit wary of it and I was no where near being sexually active at that point so didn't need it. when I said that I wanted to put it off they went along with it. I got married to my first boyfriend who didn't carry HPV so I didn't need it at all in the end. I have no daughters but might pay for my sons to have it if it proves effective (by the time they are old enough to need it there should be comprehensive data about how effective it is and just how common adverse reactions are and, of course rates of HPV may also change substantially).

[StormTreader]

Are children healthier because of it? What do you see today that you did not 30-40 years ago?

Polio? Diphtheria? Measles? It used to be a given that a certain percentage of children would die of one disease or another. Thanks to vaccinations its now no longer a virtual certainty that most families will lose at least one child. We are very lucky to live in this vaccination age.

[lizzlebizzle33]

So I can chose which ones my baby would have? Do I not have to follow any kind of schedule laid out by the Gp? I'm just unsure on giving such a teeny baby so many vaccinations in one go, has anyone chosen to delay? I feel like I will be thought of as a bad mother if I don't hit get them all done like I'm supposed to, but I don't want to just do it without any opinion or research

[nbroots]

8 weeks
Infanrix Hexa - 6 in 1 shot
Prevenar 13 - 13 Serotypes
Bexsero - 4 serotypes
Rotavirus- 1

12 weeks
Infanrix Hexa - 6 in 1 shot
Rotavirus - 1

16 weeks
Infanrix Hexa - 6 in 1
Prevenar 13 - 13 serotypes
Bexsero - 4 serotypes

That equals = 54

[AuntLydia]

Let's look at those figures more closely though nbroots. A quick Google and I find that half that pay out was accounted for by 35 payments in 8 years. 35. Out of how many vaccinated in that time I wonder? Millions? Looks like good odds to me.

[AuntLydia]

Serotypes are not the same things as jabs - you give the impression that children have 54 injections before 16 weeks. Bit disingenuous?

[nbroots]

Yes you can choose to delay or refuse it is not mandatory in the UK. Please join Arnica - Parents' Support Network, Promoting Natural Immunity on Facebook. You will be very confused asking questions here!