selfish to refuse the mmr?

[racheael76]

many children and young adults are not being vaccinated against mmr.i have a young child and worry for the future if everyone had the mmr it would make three diseases history/extint.with people not protecting their loved ones these diseases are making a comeback.people with cancer ,low immune systems due to serious health problems eg transplant patients, and pregnant ladies and newborn babies are at risk.in the future it could be my daughter in law who is pregnant (lets say her mum didnt give her the mmr injection) she caught rubella known as german measles it could cause our grandchild to be stillborn or brain damage or heart defects/loss of hearing/bith defects.so the mmr does effect other people not just the person who is not vaccinated.

if my mum didnt give me the jab when i was younger i would be worried if i was pregnant with the outbreak.i would think she was selfish,thoughtless.if my baby had a problem i would think my mum could have prevented this by giving me the mmr = i wonder how my mum would feel.
on the other side some dont want to risk autism or mercury ,poison injected into their child they love.
what are your views?
is it selfish not to give mmr?

[neunundneunzigluftballons]

Disease and vaccinations have consequences. In the most commonly vaccinated childhood illnesses the risks associated with the disease far, far outweigh the risks associated with the vaccine for the general healthy population. Nobody has, nor will ever have, the forsight to say for each individual child whether it might be the disease or the vaccination which might have a consequence for them. Personally I have vaccinated for every disease on the schedule and followed the schedule exactly but I have always had at the back of my mind that I do not approve of the multiple vaccinations and their regularity in the first year but the thoughts of having even more injections and prolonging the whole experience has meant I have gone against my gut feeling on this.

I believe people have a responsibility to act in a manner that not only looks at themselves and their family but also considers others in our society. I can understand people who are willing to take their chance with the disease rather than vaccinate, I do not agree with them and I think it is a hell of a lot riskier a strategy but that is their perogrative. I absolutely hate parents who consciously use herd immunity to protect their healthy childen from the risk of disease yes I have met some people who admit to doing this while other parents deal with the consequences of vaccination. Herd immunity is suppposed to be of benefit to children whose health is compromised by some other illness not someones pfb who is too precious to be vaccinated.

[AnyoneforTurps]

I'd be less worried about "selfishness" than the direct risk to your DC. Here is a good summary of the risks of vaccinating vs not-vaccinating

[CoteDAzur]

OP - You were on the last MMR thread. Why start another one, in AIBU no less?

YABU, if you still want to know. Each parent makes the decision to vaccinate or not for their own child. MMR is not compulsory and the decisions of other parents re their children's health is none of your business.

Hope that helps.

[HazardLamps]

Maybe. If you want to call people (like me) selfish, that's fine, go ahead and fill your boots if it makes you feel better.

Is that what you wanted to hear?

Just don't go anywhere in your four wheeled fuel-guzzling, atmosphere-damaging, asthma-inducing, potentially lethal weapon again, will you?

[CloudsAndTrees]

I don't think it's selfish.

But if it is selfish, then I think it's ok to be selfish about your own baby's health.

[racheael76]

If my parents refused to give me the mmr jab I would think my parents were thoughtless careless and selfish not the reason you state. If I was your daughter and I was pregnant caught german measles /rubella how would you feel if your precious grandchild was stillborn or brain damaged or had bith defect.i would not thank you for that.how would you feel. Ps if you have sons it could still effect you as it could be your daughter in law.
i gave my child the jab as i want to protect my child and others in society.
its not just children who are not given the mmr at risk from measles-its newborn to 1 year old babies who are not old who have not been vacinated and pregnant unborn babies.also our daughter /daughter in law ,sons partner could catch rubella while pregnant and our grandchild could be at risk of serious birth defects.i would feel terrible if i refused to give by daughter mmr and in years to come she caught measles or rubella when pregnant putting our grandchild at risk .my 12 year old son asked me yesterday "mum have i had my injection so i dont catch the nasty measles disease" i was pleased and he was reasured when i said yes.we need to make preventable diseases history by vaccinating .healthy children should not be allowed to start school if they have not been vaccinated as it puts teachers/other parents/relatives who have cancer /low immune systems from a medical problems or pregnancy at great risk.

[Badvoc]

Whooping cough is called the 100 day cough for a reason....it's certainly not over in 2 weeks.
My cousin was left sterile by mumps much to the great sorrow of his wife and himself.
A boy in my sons R class got CP and was in hospital for weeks with serious joint problems.
I really hate this view that all childhood illnesses are best caught and "gotten over".
Prior to the WC vaccine 10,000 children per year died from WC.

[reallyyummymummy]

I agree it should be mandatory unless you can provide a good reason for not having it, eg, risk of autoimmune disease.

notfluffy - I don't think anyone would not feel sympathetic to what happened to you. However, your case is one where you should not have been given it, given your family history. Taking everything into account, if 5-10% of the population can't vaccinate because of medical problems there will be enough herd immunity to protect people like you.

I am in the situation at the moment where I can't vaccinate my youngest because of his age and I would be really upset if a healthy child who should have been vaccinated gave my child measles, mumps or rubella just because they did not agree with the principle or they were worried because of an incredibly small and dubious risk of autism.

[expatinscotland]

'Historically, measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, whooping cough were childhood diseases that most children caught and were ill for a week or two.'

Historically, many children died or suffered permanent disabilities from these diseases.

'I know children died from measles, which is terrible, but were there other factors involved - poor nutrition, poor housing?'

Possibly one of the most ignorant things I have ever read on this site in 9 years.

[crashdoll]

One of the MANY things I hate about vaccine threads is seeing people who do not vaccinate underplay measles/mumps/rubella/CP and make it out they're mild childhood illnesses. Fine, you don't vaccinate for your chosen reasons but it's insulting to deny the seriousness of these illnesses to those who have lost lives or suffered serious long-term effects.

[racheael76]

ps hazardlamps i dont have a four wheel drive i have a clamped out car! i will do anything to help people ie raise money for charities to help ill and the needy.my own child had meningitis so will do anything to help protect my child and others in society.i want to help children not just my own maybe thats from spending weeks in a childrens hospital surrouded by very very ill children.

[expatinscotland]

My mother attended a posh private school in the 1940s and 50s.

She contracted measles at the age of 7, in 1948. She sustained permanent hearing loss in one ear. Two of her classmates died.

No 'other factors'.

I won't even touch on how losing a child is little more than 'terrible'.



Ever seen Mary Berry on the Great British Bake Off? Ever seen her left hand. It's next to useless due to polio she had when she was 14 despite coming from a lovely home with plenty of food . She talks about all the children she met whilst in hospital who died of polio.

[Badvoc]

Agree expat.
Staggering.

[Badvoc]

Roald Dahl lost his eldest daughter to measles.
It had a devastating impact on their family.
Tessa wrote a very moving article about it.

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

I am a little bit about people who can't spell their own name. Mind you, she spelt mmr right.

[racmun]

Bored of these threads.

I doubt very few parents who's children haven't had the MMR isn't because they merely forgot - they have made a conscious decision and for many it is long thought out and agonised over.

It's not mandatory. Parents act in the interests of their own children and make decisions accordingly. Calling people selfish etc is pointless - you're not going to change somebody's mind by calling them names and ranting etc....

For all of you who in your opinion have done the right and noble thing and had the MMR done pat yourselves on the back and tell yourself you are a wonderful parent and a wonderful member of society.

But please respect other parent's decisions.

[crashdoll]

It's hard to respect other people's decisions when it has an impact on yourself and your children.

[Pixel]

It should be mandatory except in cases of diagnosed autoimmune disorders which are proven to contraindicate vaccination.

How is that going to work then? I thought a lot of these conditions didn't show symptoms until well into adulthood. Or can people be tested for them when they are babies? (I haven't a clue if that is possible). Even if it is possible to test everybody before vaccinating them I doubt it will ever happen.

[racheael76]

crashdoll you are so right.
its not just the child who has refused the mmr at risk its putting babies up to 12 months at risk,people with cancer,low immune systems caused by serious health problems,our future grandchildren as females are not given mmr jab.
my views are everyone should be given the mmr except if the gp recommends against it.
i would help in any way i could to safeguard a child ,i give to charity,i carry a organ donor card to help others should something happen to me.i want to help society.it upsets me and find it selfish when perfectly healthy children are not vaccinated putting mine and other peoples families at risk.if only we could all help each other like this team work for society instead of i will put my child at risk and others ,dont give to charity or help others attitude.

[snooter]

MMR does not cause autism. Autism is a developmental problem & with the benefit of hindsight, children with autism showed signs before they were diagnoses. Any "research" that suggested it might was flawed.

"Natural" immunity from catching the actual illness is no better than immunity conferred by immunisation.

I think immunisation ought to be required for a place in the education system.

There is much too much happy-clappy tripe spouted about "natural" healthcare in general - unsurprisingly a lot of the anti-vacc brigade think home births a sensible option.

"Natural" includes stuff like dying from preventable causes.

[snooter]

Diagnosed not diagnoses - oh for an edit facility!

[slightlysoupstained]

snooter Seems a bit silly to conflate home birth with anti-vacc. One is fully supported by the medical profession, the other is not.

[Lazyjaney]

Seem to be a lot of people on these various threads believing they have a very good [insert reason here] argument no to vaccinate their children. Problem is, too many think like that and you get Swansea etc (and there will be others).

Seems to be a very British thing, the other countries vie lived in make it clear you will get the jabs or school and various public facilities are not open to you.

[post]

About 40 people die in the uk every year from flu, I believe. I wonder why we don't hear the same accusations of irresponsibility and selfishness against people who don't get, and make their children get, yearly flu jabs?

[crashdoll]

post the flu has many strains, measles (for example) does not.