AIBU to be skeptical about this vaccination?

[slatternlymother]

Our family has previous history of damage caused by the whooping cough vaccine. SIL is permanently brain damaged after recieving the vaccine, and DH had an extremely bad reaction, even though he received a different type of the vaccine due to his sisters reaction.

I spoke several times to the vaccine nurse about this, so I don't want to give DS the whooping cough vaccine. She kept trying to convince me, but I said I really wasn't happy. After months of tooing and froing, we got a letter from the hospital saying the vaccine has changed since the 80's, and it'll be fine to jab DS. I said would they do it in the local hospital, where they could at least monitor DS for a few hours? They said a flat no.

Last time I went to get DS a different vaccine, the same nurse at the surgery asked if I'd decided to vaccinate DS against whooping cough, since it is also combined with tetanus? I said I still wasn't happy. She tutted at me, and I asked if she could give him a single tetanus vaccine. She said no, and I should just give DS the DPT because it'll be fine.

My gut is really against this, but her attitude makes me feel like an awful mother and I dread appointments.

The nurse initially said there was a link between bad reactions to the vaccine and an egg allergy. After he was weaned, we tried him on scrambled egg and he had an immediate reaction; vomiting violently and rash around his mouth etc. When I told the same nurse this at another appointment, she then retracted her statement and said there was no link. This makes me even more wary.

I honestly feel like its just a 'bums on seats' approach at this surgery, and I'm really unhappy about it but I don't know what else to do.

DD1 was allergic to eggs as a baby and our GP said she was not to have the measles jab (it was the single back then). Despite that, every time I went to the surgery the nurse and the HV suggested DD have the jab. They kept sending us appts which I kept cancelling. It wasn't my idea to say no but the GP's, who I felt knew more about it than I did.

When the MMR came out I asked the GP again and still she said no. I think DD ended up having the MMR when she was about 10 by which time she was fine with egg.

I really got the impression it was just a box checking exercise and they really weren't interested in whether a specific child should or should not have the jab.

Egg allergy and MMR and Flu vaccines don't mix well.
allergies.about.com/od/medicationallergies/a/vaccinesfoods.htm
Mine are fully vaccinated, but if we had egg allergy we'd be selective

Sorry
allergies.about.com/od/medicationallergies/a/vaccinesfoods.htm

DS also had the swine flu vaccine in hospital as the GP surgery could only get hold of pandemrix, but the allergy unit had celvapan.

They generally give Pediacel 5:1 jab, here are the ingredients:

Lyophilized Haemophilus b Conjugate Vaccine (bound to tetanus protein) -- Act HIB, and is to be reconstituted with Component Pertussis Vaccine and Deiphteria and Tetanus Toxoids Adsorbed combined with Inactivated Poliomyelitis Vaccine?Quadracel.

• Each .05 ml. dose of Act-HIB contains purified capsular polysaccharide covalently bound to tetanus protein .
• Each .05 ml. dose of Quadracel contains pertussis toxoid, filamentous hemagglutinin, fimbriae, pertactin(a membrane protein), diphtheria toxoid, tetanus toxoid(inactivated with formaldehyde), aluminum(.33mg), purified inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine: Type 1(Mahoney); Type 2(M.E.F.1); Type 3(Saukett); and 2-phenoxyethanol 0.6% + 0.1% added as preservative. The vaccine also contains 20 ppm Tween 80, less than 0.05% human albumin, and less than 1 ppm bovine serum. Trace amounts of polymyxin B and neomycin may be present from the cell growth medium. The three poliovirus types are inactivated by formalin (formaldehyde) and are grown on human diploid cells derived originally from aborted human fetuses. (Source: Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties 1999)

www.medicines.org.uk/searchresult.aspx?search=pediacel Click on PIL for patient information leaflet.

www.medicines.org.uk/EMC/medicine/26217/SPC/PEDIACEL+syringe/#COMPOSITION Read this for the summary of product from the manafacturer which lists contraindications and undesirable effects.

Only you can make the informed choice for your child, once you have the full information that is.

SingleTetanus vaccine
www.childrensimmunisation.com/price-list/

A court case was heard in Italy recently in which the parent's complaint, that their 9 mo DS's autism had been caused by the MMR jab, was upheld

Er no, not quite, I did go to the trouble of reading the actual judge's statement, which took ages as my Italian is fairly basic.

The compensation is because they want to maintain herd immunity, and to do that they are prepared to pay families where you can't prove that MMR didn't cause the Autism - a subtle but important distinction.

OP

Book an appointment with your GP

Tell your GP you want a referal to peaditrics to discuss the vaccines and possible side effects. Don't take no for an answer. Tell your GP you are not going to vaccinate until you know the full situation for your child.

OP dont by bullied into anything you are unsure of. When I refused a vaccination I was in a room with several other mums and babies. They were asked to leave then I was left in closed room with 3 doctors/nurses all sighing and tutting and trying to make me feel stupid. I threw just as much questions back. In the end the main doctor turned and said ok bring the baby through we can do her 3 month check. As we passed the FULL waiting room she shouted out "you are putting your child and everone elses child at risk" trying to make me feel ridiculed in front of everyone. Bear in mind I already had PND so making me feel crap wasnt exactly helping there.NHS website states only 95% people need vaccinated before they will stop vaccination. So hardly all me then is it! As it turns out I was right not to give the jab as the hospital specialist later told me not to vaccinate during eczema flare ups. The docs told me it was ok!

I'm generally very pro vaccinations but you absolutely have to have your concerns addressed so that you can make the best possible informed decision.

I'd change surgeries if I were you. You're entitled to full and accurate information.

I am so pro vaccine, I normally don't reply on the threads as I get all cross and ranty, but in your case the nurse is being unreasonable, if your DC is allergic to eggs then they need to be open with you and talk you through it, many vaccines are incubated on egg protein, but some arn't, 5 years ago I could have told you if this was or wasn't but I can't remember now.
If it is an egg protein one, you asking to have it done in hospital was not unreasonable, I had a reaction to Polio on a sugar cube in 1999, reaction is unheard of normally for this vaccine, a yellow card was put in and I was told I would need to have this vaccine as a day patient in the future (I was 29 at the time) so If I was you I would not just be questioning this vaccine, as egg protein is used in many vaccines,
the reason I am so pro vaccine is because of the children who can't have it because they are immuno suppressed or by the sounds of it you child, if this is egg protien based, heard immunity should then hopefully keep you child safe unfortunatly some people read the daily fail and put other peoples children at risk.
yours
mummy who has vaccinated her children in the hope your child is safe X

www.nhs.uk/Planners/vaccinations/Pages/sciencevaccinations.aspx so if only 95% as mentioned in the link here need to be vaccinated to stop and possibly eliminate the disease why do pro vaccinators feel the need to blame anyone who has a different view of "harming other children"

because the uptake is much lower than 95%...

I think it's about 88% take up rate actually.

Thank you very much for all the advice; it's so good to know I'm not being pfb and silly. I will go to the doctors and ask for a referral, and if nothing gets done I will simply pay for the single mmr vaccines individually and the dtp with the polio instead of pertussis. Does that sound like a good plan?

sashh thanks for the explanation:

"The compensation is because they want to maintain herd immunity, and to do that they are prepared to pay families where you can't prove that MMR didn't cause the Autism - a subtle but important distinction."

I don't fully understand your point though: to my mind, paying families where it can't be proved the MMR didn't cause autism stops short of admitting culpability but admits strong probability, otherwise why pay? Why does paying these families maintain herd immunity?

I know it's off the OPs topic, sorry OP, hope you are getting the info you need.

I'm sure I watched a news programme in the last few days, saying hat Whooping Cough cases had increased about tenfold recently. The baby in the clip was fighting for breath. Apparently there have been 9 deaths. I don't think I'd have the balls to reject the vaccination entirely, but in your shoes, I'd want to speak to a specialist, and assess all the risks and eventualities with someone who knows what they are on about. The practice nurse wouldn't cut it for me!