For thinking i shouldn't be getting constantly pestered by the local nurse and GP team to get my daughter immunises when i've repeatedly told them my answer is no?

[Lowla]

My daughter is 4. She got all her jabs as a baby, but i stopped at the MMR one. Since we missed the appointment, i've been getting loads of letters to invite us to the clinic for the MMR jab and now her school booster jab for some other virus. (Hib or something like that).

I've phoned the GP and asked them not to send any more letters out as i've chosen not to get her immunised any further for my own personal reasons, and worries over her last reactions to the jabs. And now i've got some nurse calling me asking to do a home visit next week to 'check on me and dd'. I asked 'is this about the jabs?' and she said, rather reluctantly, 'yes'.

AIBU for feeling like they should respect my decision?

Sorry for the bad grammar. Writing this in a rush as i have to run and get dd from school.

Freddos
NO. He was struck off because he lied about what he found and it could not be repeated. He abused children and lied about it. His was the only paper because it was false.
Single vaccines were never and never will be the answer.

The sooner they get the whole blooming lot into one jab, the sooner our kids will be safe and those diseases will be a thing of the past.

I do think, still, that any parent with serious concerns about the MMR should be referred to an immunologist via email or telephone. Dismissing parental concerns doesn't increase vaccination rates. People don't decide against vaccinating because they don't give a crap about their kids; such feckless parents may not bother, but that's a very different matter from someone who has plenty of contact with HCP for their kid's wellbeing, but has unallayed concerns on this specific point. A loving and worried parent should be given the info they want, from someone sufficiently qualified that they can trust them.

I don't think starting from the position that they should just trust blindly, when they obviously have expressed an unwillingness to do so, is helping increase vaccination rates, and it may also miss a child who genuinely should not be vaccinated. Because sometimes I suspect such children are indeed overlooked, though thankfully in most cases to no harmful end.

Jux

Wakefield was entirely to blame. And to suggest that he never made the link between MMR & autism is frankly risible. He invented a syndrome called "autistic entercolitis" - which has not been proven to exist.

That his research was fraudulent, and ethically questionable is beyond any doubt at this stage.

wakefield is a idiot and a child abusing git. some of the tests he performed on that small group of children were abusive.

op yabu its your docters job to attempt to inform you especially if a medical decision you make is based on clap trap and a lack of education

I wish people would leave Wakefield out of it. Both sides. I have my own view on all of that business, like most of us, but as soon as threads start talking Wakefield it turns into the US election in terms of polarised opinions. It derails horribly, and really it does not matter: either science supports an MMR link, or it doesn't. There's an awful lot of reputable research on that one by now, and you don't need to mention Wakefield to cite it.

Most people love their kids with a passion. Vaccination is a red-button subject because each side thinks they are doing what is in their own kid's best interests, and the other side's stance may potentially jeopardise them. Shouting the odds isn't about to alter anyone's views, but sometimes perhaps discussion might move each side to a point of, at least, understanding the other's perspective a little better. (Speaking as someone who has done plenty of shouting the odds myself, in my time.)

perfectstorm fair point well presented

Maybe I'm mistaken, I stopped following the whole thing after my decision had been made and it was over for my dc.

But I do think there should have been other studies on the children affected, after all, they have received compensation on the basis that the MMR really did damage them.

I firmly believe that single vaccines were the right answer for us. We were able to have the measles first, as I felt that presented the biggest risk to my children and they didn't end up having to have the same vaccine injected into them twice when they didn't need it twice. They both had look tests to prove they were immune. Ds2 didn't become immune to rubella the after the first vaccine, so he was given it again. He ended up immune to rubella two years before he would have done if we had done the MMR the way the NHS wanted to.

Outraged, same here. The only work around, and then the conclusions were twisted and twisted. Personally, I blame the Chief Medical Officer for pursuing his goal of total herd immunity to the exclusion of all else, and the Government were quite happy to use scare tactics on the general public and force people into uptake of the MMR ratherz than offering the singles as an alternative, at a cost of maybe 30 quid per at the GP's surgery.

It was a horrible time. Parents had no idea where to turn. We couldn't afford the singles (in the end my mum paid 300 quid a shot). Working with autistic kids with about 9/10 parents saying that their autistic child had been normal up to MMR, it was really frightening. Do you risk autism, or do you risk illness (which in our experience - having had all those illnesses as children - didn't seem so serious)?

I wasn't against vaccines at all. Dd's had them all, including the MMR booster at school entry.

I still maintain that Wakefield is not a wanker, nor an idiot. And some of the things he's been accused of on this read are just more of the hype that the press had such a lovely time with.

It's not just the MMR though. The OP is also refusing to have the preschool booster - what she laughably refers to as Hib and 'some other virus'. At a time when we have an EPIDEMIC of 'some other virus' (otherwise known as whooping cough). An epidemic which has claimed several lives. The OP is clearly not well informed (not informed at all).

perfectstorm Sorry, but I disagree. One side is scientifically supported and will protect lives - the other is not, and actively endangers lives.

That we all love our kids is beyond question & hardly needs mentioning. But people who refuse to vaccinate (EXCEPT THOSE WHO HAVE GENUINE MEDICAL REASONS NOT TO) are generally refusing because of their ignorance about the issue.

And I mean "ignorance" as in "without knowledge", which is what it means, not "stupid" in case any gets offended.

So, the Wakefield debacle must be highlighted - because that's where this crap started.

According to the statistics, 10 babies have died of whooping cough this year.

Regardless of our opinions, we probably all need to reflect on how lucky we are that our children have not been affected.

Jux Not the "press" that had him struck off as a doctor, was it?

Well, those of us whose children haven't been affected can do that. Those of us whose children HAVE been affected can't.

@crikey I think the OP is both ignorant and stupid. As is anyone who doesn't even bother to check what vaccine it is they are refusing to let their child have.

Perfectstorm thank you for being a sensible voice or reason - I agree x

I chose to use the singles vaccines based on the information published at that time. I didn't worry about autism, but instead about the reports of some new bowel disorder. As both my dad's and mum's families have a lot of people with bowel disorders, I did not want to take any chance that the mmr could trigger this.

Despite the single jabs, my son still developed a bowel disorder, which he is only now beginning to get over.

My children have had all of their other required vaccines. I am not anti vaccine, I was just worried about his bowels.

I agree that the OP sounds like she needs to do more of her own personal research, but to be fair to her she tried to do ten right thing. She vaccinated her baby and more than once her baby ended up in hospital after having a vaccination. Anyone that can't understand why she doesn't want to take that risk is pretty heartless. Yes, she is risking something else by not vaccinating, but that is her choice as a parent of that particular baby. If her baby had been fine after the injections, then it would be fair to call her ignorant. As it is, she is just a mother the same as everyone else who is trying her best to make the right choices for her own baby.

No, she is ignorant. Referring to 'some other virus' cannot reasonably be described in any other way.

Not reading 13 pages of responses but I will add my YABVVU.

You are not being a responsible parent by not immunising your DD. This is why measles and now whooping cough is on the rise, people like you. I am glad that your surgery is taking it seriously.

Well, I suppose you could try negligent instead if you wanted.....

jux can you give links to any information that shows that any children who have autisum who also had the mmr in the uk have recived compensation on the basis that mmr caused it.

perfectstorm just to claify my fair point comment was solely in regard to leaving wakefield out of it as it does tend to cloud the discussion.

however it wouldnt be unfair to say that some people see jux's above post actually still belive his nonsense and still appear to belive that the experiments he performed on this small number of children despite the gmc stating them to be abuse to be perfectly acceptable.

she is just a mother the same as everyone else who is trying her best to make the right choices for her own baby.

She's not trying her best though is she, she doesn't even know what she is refusing. If she had looked at the statistics and looked at the alternative or even knew what dangers she was choosing to expose her child to and still choose to not vaccinate her child then that would be trying her best.

I think the heartless people are the ones trying to tell a parent of a child who has been seriously ill with whooping cough which had major ramifications not just on him but on his parents and his siblings that it is reasonable for someone to not get their child vaccinated against whooping cough, actually.

All 3 of mine reacted badly to the MMR , 2 fitted and one passed blood in his stools.
All after the jab.

For that reason I waited till they were 5 for the booster, when I felt they were stronger...well the boys anyway. My dd is only 3 , I;ll do her in a year or so.

YANBU to want your wishes listened to.

My Mum had a Polio scare as a child because her Mum never bothered getting her vaccinated - very scary.

If i was your neighbour then I would hassle you to get your kids vaccinated too.