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.

I see your point, must admit I hadn't thought about those who were a bit older and due for boosters at the time. Still, 1998 is only 14 years ago, 17/18 years olds are not at uni are they

Of course they are, that is the age when most people go to uni.

The op states why she has chosen not to give her dd her mmr. After all her other vaccinations her daughter has ended up in hospital after having fEbrile seizures and being very sick my son was exactly the same. This shows that combined vaccinations are not for every child, so while others undrstandably are angry with those whohave not vaccinated some have donw it for reasons they feel is best even if it is going against medical advice. we can not just dismiss ferbile seizures as being harmless because on the rare occasion they are not and when your child is reacting so badly how can combined vaccines be right for them

Saintly in the uk the uptake for wc was as low as 36% in the 70s. There is a large pool of unvaccinated adults at the moment..

For my children (as I said up-thread) there is something in the MMR jab , that does not work for my kids.

All horrific stomach bugs, with the passing of blood in one case.

The febrile convulsions because of the fever...its not nice.

My eldest is 14 and my youngest 3, I have given it a chance each time. I am pro-vaccination, but not all combinations suit all children.

I did go back and give the booster, I wasn't given much choice...even when I explained to the Doctor why I was reluctant.

The febrile convulsions because of the fever...its not nice

You get a much worse fever if your child gets measles. And the side effects of any if the three can be pretty horrific, and are far more likely than similarly devastating side effects of the vaccine.

Bruffin - have a quick google for whooping cough and waning immunity. There has been some discussion about the issue but I think the most common position now is that the outbreaks are being driven by waning immunity - particularly in relation to the aP jab. Some suggest mutation of the pathogen as well, or a change in strain. I think this is a case where blaming the unvaccinated is unlikely to solve the problem. And to give the UK authorities credit they haven't really taken that route . As evidenced by them introducing a vaccination for those who are pregnant - a decision I personally have concerns about, but it does at least recognise that the outbreaks aren't going to be solved by immunising those who aren't directly at most risk.

I am interested in the decision though as when ds2 was exposed to w/c at 2 months old I was told my passive immunity wouldn't protect him. He didn't catch it then though (he did 2 later from a vaccinated child but at age 2 it obviously wasn't nearly as serious as it might have been for him as a 2 month old).

Btw does the UK give an aP booster in late primary school/early teens? If they don't and they're still wanting to try and maintain herd immunity for w/c they should I would have thought. Or are they moving to protecting those most at risk? (I have no idea, just curious).

itsall

I am well aware of that. For what its worth, my children's temp was around 104-5, quite high anyway!

I've done it. I've given the MMR a go, 3 times...each time its made something nasty happen.

My children didn't have any problems with any of the other vaccines.

We can only comment on our individual situations. I don't speak for any other parent.

I think we should be 'allowed' to do whats right for our own families...most not vaccinating don't just don't on a whim.

I think we should be 'allowed' to do whats right for our own families...

No no no no no! If we all did this we would all suffer :-( if people are allowed to make decisions concerning the entire country, based on their own needs, then the decisions will be short sighted and selfish.

For my family, it would be right for me to stop paying most of my taxes. I will keep paying the portion for roads, police and fire. I will stop paying for health, education and benefits. I will keep paying council tax as I want my rubbish collected. That would be right for my family. With the money I stop paying in tax I can buy private education and private health insurance and that would be so much better for my family.

Pretty shit for most of the population though. Or even me and my children when there is a massive skills shortage and only the rich can afford education and become doctors and teachers etc and the poor get poorer.

Just trying to illustrate that because something is better your you it doesn't make it the right decision.

With respect, that is incredibly easy to say when your child has no adverse reactions.

Anybody that tells me that they would blithely ignore a strong and worrying history of adverse reaction in thir children for the greater good does not really sound plausible.

I would find it really easy to tell others what to do in a hypothetical situation that impacts my child not one bit. Pretending that you would expose your child without any concern after a series of bad experiences is just glib tbh.

The taxes analogy is a poor one. People are not normally fearful for the health of their children when filling in a tax return.

Pag is right - the whole point of herd immunity is that if the majority of children who can be immunised are, then it reduces the chances of a child who can't be immunised of getting the disease.

If there really is no alternative, then OP will just have to be one of the ones who are protected by the masses (and believe me - I really do mean can't , not won't because I do not believe that a parent should willingly not immunise their child because "they don't believe in it" or some such nonsense. A sound medical reason like convulsions or illness as a result of the jabs, or pre-exisiting conditions that make imms dangerous, not some parent deciding that their child doesn't need it)

But some people genuinely don't vaccinate because they don't believe in it. They think modern medicine is bad. They believe in energy etc.

I am lucky that apart from a nasty fever with each of her three MMRs and a horrible reaction (which is normal) to the BCG my DD has been fine with all her vaccines but even if she wasn't I would almost certainly vaccinate as people die from these diseases every day in countries where vaccines aren't available.

I've come a bit late to this but my children were born between 1986 and 1991. MMR came out some time between DC2 and DC3 being the right age, because DC1 was offered single measles (and my GP said NO). At that time MMR was a wonder drug and they told us it would give lifelong immunity. It was only later they started offering a MMR pre school booster.

So when my children's cohort was at University they would only have had one dose of MMR. And it isn't quite as effective as we were led to believe. That's why universities were full of it, and nothing to do with Wakefield.

3 out of my 4 had MMR. 1 of those had rubella, and one had mumps. The one who didn't get the jab (on GP's instructions) did not get anything.

My son was hospitalized after a set of jabs and had a febrile convulsion. I still got the mmr though, the thought of him catching measles and dying was enough to persuade me. I did however delay his mmr till the age of two & the same with my daughter, she had no ill effects from any jabs.
I am due my third anytime now & he will get all hospital jabs but I point blank refuse to let them do 3 injections in one day. I will be making sure they are split up and staggered again, my baby my rules.

ur child ur chose.my children could not have whopping cough vacine i didnt have it for the same reason they couldnt.My daughter had mmr,im not going into other peoples opinions that are based on heresay or reports they have read im going on MY experience.My happy toddler changed over two weeks,she was diagnosed with autism aged 6.Our story is that ours im not expecting anyone to understand or even care what i do ask is for respect,respect my view that in some cases mmr is not gd .
I dont belive the medical staff have a right to keep on at u abt it.Invite u to discuss it yes then they should accept ur opinon.
calling people evil or any other awful name is stupid people make decisions that they are comfortable with no need at all to be nasty about that.
If people wish to vacinate go ahead its ur chose i just hope ur child doesnt have a reation.but dont insult others for thinking different

But some people genuinely don't vaccinate because they don't believe in it. They think modern medicine is bad. They believe in energy etc.

I always wonder what these people would do if their child needed life saving treatment. Would they refuse it because modern medicine is 'bad'?

I think that even if we accept that people think they are doing the same best thing for their child, sometimes they are not.

Tbh, I think SS should get involved with anti vaccines parents (medical reasons excepted). Refusing preventative medical treatment /medical treatment without medical advice is neglect.

its not the GP that is responsible for the jab letters its the local authority if you don't want to vaccinate leave your poor doctors alone and contact the relevant authority's and yes they will want to talk to you about it it is there responsibility to ensure its being done for the right reasons not some silly reason they are simply doing there job by checking up on you

Sadly, people may make decisions they are comfortable with, it may be their choice, but all too often they are simply not well informed enough to make an educated choice.

It really beggars my belief that people can honestly think they know more than doctors who have studied for years, and have years of experience, when it comes to something as important as vaccinations.

With the exception of people who genuinely cannot be vaccinated, it is sheer bloody minded ignorance. And dangerous ignorance that lethally affects those who have to rely on herd immunity.

Completely agree Sarah.

I agree with you too, Sarah but when I've said that before, people have jumped on me and said they don't study much on vaccinations specifically.

Which ignores the fact that they study virology, pathology, immunology etc. vaccines are just another medicine! There are, of course, some who specialise in vaccines but they are all in the hands of big pharma

I'm all in favour of vaccination for everyone who can be vaccinated BUT you can't take it on trust that doctors know what the risks of medicines are. Unfortunately the way the pharmaceutical industry and regulators work mean evidence is routinely hidden. That's not the view of an hysterical anti-vaccine campaigner, that's the view of Dr Ben Goldacre who has just written a book on this subject. I happen to know, from my work, that he's completely right. And he's not anti-vaccine, in fact he's slagged off mothers who refused MMR for their children. (I think he was both sexist and OTT on that one, as it happens.)

BUT you can't take it on trust that doctors know what the risks of medicines are.

Absolutely but I would trust my doctor's (which is hopefully based on his medical knowledge) opinion more than my own .And I do love Ben Goldacre!

But some people genuinely don't vaccinate because they don't believe in it. They think modern medicine is bad. They believe in energy etc.

I know someone like this. She also believes an organic diet can keep her DCs completely healthy so there's no need for vacs. She's so superior about every single one of her parenting choices as well and completely falls into the "every other child has been vaccinated so I don't need to risk my DCs" category i.e. the MMR is too risky for her DCs but great that everyone else has had it done so her DCs don't risk catching the ilnesses.

I can't stand her.