To ask if you're NOT vaccinating against Meningitis B what are your reasons?

[DreamCloud99]

Non judgey.

Ours is simply cost - we have twins and can't afford it .

DH will support the vaccine if I want to go ahead, he is more concerned with cost and if the cost is really "necessary".

He's not anti vaxx but sees our boys being in the low risk age group so is it worth the money ?

We were fortunate enough to have my DM pay for it last year although we would gone without elsewhere if needed as we luckily do have room to do so. We paid £150 per dose plus £60 to register with a private GP practice. This was pre Boots offering it.

What I didn't understand was why our GPs didn't offer it. I rang and they were decidedly unhelpful and left me googling where to get it. I would much rather have given the £300 to the NHS than a private practice. Surely there must be a way the NHS can offer this kind of thing to generate an income.

"Vaccines are totally safe. That's why the Government will pay upto £120,000 if your child suffers damage as a result of vaccination. Totally safe"

Erm, how do you think that smallpox was eradicated and that we rarely see anyone who has had polio?

I was born in the 1950s and as a child, it wasn't unusual to see children walking around in metal leg braces as a result of contracting polio. Most of you will be too young to have seen the effects of polio.

Interesting that all the posters with a medical or science background are pro vaccination. I think that says it all really.

It seems to me that people don't understand risk factors. If there is a 0.1% risk of a negative reaction from a vaccine compared to a 10% risk of developing a disease from not vaccinating I know which option I would choose.

"Why the lambasting of the anti-vaxxers?"

There are some posters who have very good reasons for not vaccinating and that's fine. Then there are some like TheBreastmilksOnMe who don't conduct proper research and think that vaccination is some kind of conspiracy theory and come up with examples of "research" from woo sites. No intelligent person is going to take that seriously.

Cost. My youngest has been done routinely but my 2 & 3 year old haven't been and won't be done because We simply can't afford it, i hate that they don't all have the same level of vaccination.

The greatest straw man of the anti vaxx "argument"- that anyone says vaccinations are 100% without side effects.

Nothing that is effective has no side effects. That is, incidentally, why homeopaths can be so very sure their treatments are 100% safe.

atenco Historically polio vaccine was a live oral vaccine so in the 1950s and 60s there was a possibility (albeit tiny) of contracting polio from the vaccine. For many years now the vaccine has been inactivated.

coolaschmoola I think giving Men B vaccine to ALL children on the NHS is a very inefficient and expensive way of trying to reduce the incidence of a relatively rare disease. The NHS vaccination programme targets populations based on their risk and the likely benefits. Hence why older teens are offered Meningitis ACWY vaccine and babies are offered Meninigits B vaccine.

My children are older and at low risk of Men B so haven't had the vaccine. I also think many private clinics are making a lovely profit based on the fears of parents.

furryleopard why would you expect your GP surgery to recommend a private clinic? They can't offer the vaccine themselves to non-eligible children and can't provide a profit making service. They also can't recommend private clinics as they have no knowledge of the services on offer, and no knowledge as to how safe and regulated those clinics are.

Eurgh can't help but bite at these anti vaxxers!

When I had dc1 vaccinated the nurse said to me 'the two most important things for children in the world; clean water and vaccinations'

I also did my own research and it wasn't hard to come to the conclusion that the risks of vaccinating are vastly out weighed by the benefits.

You only have to look at how many doctors vaccinate their children for proof!

I live in an area with huge numbers of recent immigrants and we have issues with Tb and measles epidemics every year!

When you don't vaccinate remember you put other children at risk - not just your own so I hope you can live with it on your conscience that you could kill another child who can't be vaccinated for good reason (less than 8 weeks or already poorly)

I wish we could move to the way the USA does it. no vaccination certificate no school place.

By "conducting your own research" you mean 'reading bollocks by nobodys" on the internet.

Why is there an assumption that the only research people do is "reading bollocks on the internet"?

My own "research" was asking my gp about pros, cons, potential reactions etc because we have a history of severe vaccine reactions in the family. We were referred to a paediatrician for a similar discussion who basically said they were paid to encourage all parents to vaccinate their kids but accepted and understood our concerns and advised me to speak to the Health Protection Agency. Phoned them and was told by someone clueless that "No, the vaccines aren't tested for allergic reactions because there's nothing in them that you can react to. It's like being injected with water." Ugh?!
I read as much information as I could find on (official) websites including www.meningitis.org, www.nhs.uk/meningitis, www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg102/resources
and www.gov.uk/government/publications/meningococcal-b-vaccine-jcvi-position-statement

and decided not to vaccinate based on all of the above.

As an aside, herd immunity is irrelevant for men b as it's very unlikely to be caught from someone else. When it occurs it's sporadic, singular cases ("97% of cases are isolated, with no links to any other cases" www.meningitis.org/disease-info/types-causes/meningoccal-disease) therefore someone's choice not to give their kids the men b vaccine does not affect anyone else's children.

I should also add that the reason we don't hear more horror stories about people who don't vaccinate is because those of us that do are keeping their children safe!

Erm, can I facepalm at that comment facepalming?

Gertrudemoo you don't think that there is any chance that the reason 97% of cases are isolated has something to do with the fact most of us vaccinate...?!?

I also think it's strange that you consider the fact that 3% of people catch it from others as so low, yet the chance of an issue from vaccination is much much lower than 3%

it's your choice not to vaccinate your child but it's not my choice to have my child come into contact with them.

This thread isn't about being anti vaxx surely (or it shouldn't be, it's just that they pop up everywhere) MenB isn't a scheduled recommended jab - you can be pro vaxx (like me) and choose not to get it. It's not reflection on your thoughts on vaccinations! For me, in contrast to the poster above, my summer holiday is x100000 more of a priority with my money than paying for this. I am still pro vaxx.

It is a scheduled recommended jab. It's just that the government have decided it's too expensive to do a proper catch up.

Yes so those of us who don't have 6 month olds and are choosing not to vaccinate aren't anti vaxx! The NHS are telling us it's not necessary. It's not the same as being anti vaxx

I'm a children's nurse and got my DC vaccinated. Luckily we could afford to get it done privately but it was a no brainer. I've seen enough children die or have various limbs amputated as a result of meningitis. It's horrifying.

My two and five year olds has their first dose on Sunday. Two days of stiff arms and grumps bit fine now. Men b is one of the things I REALLY worry about. Any fever or illness has me hovering over 'waiting' for a rash and hoping I'll spot the symptoms if ever I have to! We can afford it but if we couldn't I'd be doing as someone else said, asking family, car booting or putting it on a credit card.

When my siblings and I were all babies, we had febrile convulsions if we ever had a temperature. My brother in particular was really bad, had convulsions up til the age of 6. GP advised not to have any injectable vaccines during early childhood due to increased risk of encephalitis as a side effect of vaccination in children with family history of febrile convulsions. So we didn't have any. My ten year old has had no vaccines. My next one won't have them either. The risks outweigh the benefits for my family. I wouldn't, however, label those who choose otherwise in any negative way. I would respect another mother and father's decision to do what's best for their family and maybe naively would expect the same in return. After all, every GP I have seen and my health visitor respected the decision and the reason behind it. The only nasty reaction I have had from the medical profession was a rather arrogant junior doctor in A&E who lambasted me publically because he had seen children die of diptheria in India. I told him he was welcome to take my son's share as a donation to help children for whom the benefit of the vaccine outweighs the risk. Funnily he didn't take me up on my offer.

Gosh- it must be such hard work making sure your children never have a raised temperature......how do you manage it? If only there was a way of making sure they don't get some of the significant childhood illnesses that are likely to give them spiking fevers..........

Cost is a huge factor for a lot of people. I was fortunate enough to be in a position that I could pay for my friend to have her kids done. My daughter meningitis and it's a truly devastating disease. Anti vaxxers should've come and took a look at my newborn wired up to all those tubes and IV's. Maybe then they'd think twice.

My dd2 had hers at 8wks as part of routine imms. Dd1 (just turned 2) is booked for hers privately next week. Not looking forward to it but having seen the pics earlier this year of that poor little 2yr old girl who died it was a no brainer for me. A local 17 year old boy died from it earlier this year. Yes it's quite rare and dd prob not that likely to get it but those aren't good enough odds for me when a vaccine is available. It's expensive but that's what the plastic is for.
And the NHS are def not saying it's not necessary to vaccinate, in fact the opposite -that's why they've introduced it to the baby vacc schedule, it's just that they can't afford to do it for older kids.

No the NHS Don't see it as important enough to prioritise spend. They obviously could afford it if they wanted to, but resources are prioritised

Aw Bertrand if only you'd been there at the appt with my parents, you could have told the GP he was talking rubbish.

www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/dear-parents-you-are-being-lied/

This is well worth a read.

zoobeedoo it sounds like for your family there is good medical reason not to vaccinate so don't you see it as even more important that for those of us who can vaccinate we do?

Vaccinating our children helps to reduce the risk to yours who haven't been able to vaccinate.

And I completely agree there is a difference between choosing not to accept a vaccine which is free because health professionals and government have determined they are so vital they will be funded and then having to make a decision whether or not to pay for one which has been deemed less vital.

So far as men b goes thoigh it has been deemed important enough to vaccinate all babies so I think it's sensible for those who can to find a way to get it for their children who missed out to do so.

I'd actually be more interested in sitting in on the conversations that you had with your doctor about your children. I have never heard of a parent having febrile convulsions (which used to be considered much more dangerous than they are) being considered a good reason for not vaccinating a child.