To think this takes not vaccinating to a whole new level

[Swanlaked]

DD has a child at school who has cancer. The school sent a letter home asking all parents to please think about giving their child the MMR if they haven't had it and also to inform them immediately if any child was in contact with chicken pox.

One of the mums at the school is still refusing to have her 3DC vaccinated. No health issues it's big pharma/poison/conspiracy theory crap

AIBU at this point to think the school should seek removal of the children and tell the bloody thicko to find another school for them?

"I don't agree with compulsory vaccination."

No, you don't, do you?

Well I AM for compulsory vaccinations for anybody without a valid medical reason. Fuck all this "personal choice" shit when infectious diseases are making a comeback thanks to moronic anti-vaccinators.

The children mentioned in the OP, with the anti-vax parents, should be monitored closely and the right to make medical decisions removed from their parents, who clearly aren't capable.

ice I can't believe someone can be so dense. Not sending a text while driving or not smoking carries no risk whatsoever for the person involved. Hence the absence of ethical issues around those laws.

mermaid Sorry to disappoint your vindictive streak but nothing about not vaccinating is likely to lead to my imprisonment.

car Your argument isn't really about vaccinating but the lost art of quarantine. That parent's behaviour would have been beyond the pale long before vaccines were in common use.

If you really want to try and keep the immune compromised child safe, you could teach your child about hand washing and keep your child off when they're sick rather than dosing with calpol and sending them in anyway - my child is immune compromised and the number of parents that send their child into school when the only place they should be is tucked up in bed drives me insane.

We've been down the compulsory vaccination road before, with the smallpox vaccine. It wasn't pretty. Turned out what stopped smallpox in the end was stringent isolation rather than the ineffective and dangerous vaccine. Not a fact often taught in schools unfortunately

No vaccinations, no taxpayer funded school place. No one is holding anyone down and forcing them in that scenario.

Some kids have allergic reactions to vaccines so I understand some parents fears. My cousin had a reaction to a vaccine which caused him to fit. The doctors insisted that the vaccine had nothing to do with it, that it was merely a coincidence that it happened at the same time so they had him vaccinated again. He fitted again and was left deaf and brain damaged.

I think there's a lot of fear because genuine allergic reactions are denied by the medical establishment as such and that creates conspiracy theories.

I agree Yawnyawn.

Exactly seeyou

As plenty of threads on mn will testify, home education is not the preserve of the rich. You can opt out if you feel that strongly. And while you are on your moral high ground, you can thank those taking the wholly reasonable decision you are too up yourself to take. They are creating the herd immunity that protects your children and immunocompromised people of all ages.

I also agree with yawnyawn. No shots, not publicly funded school place (save if medically exempt) is something I'm quite happy to sign up to.

Like7, I am so sorry for what you have gone through. The GP in question should be censured for filling your head with that nonsense. If your dd is going to uni I would seriously consider pointing her towards getting the mmr jab.

Where do you draw the line though yawnyawn? What about the proven to be ineffective and dubiously safe flu spray?

yawnyawn What about the chicken pox vaccine? Many people per year die of chicken pox too and it too is dangerous for immune compromised people

In italy it's no vaccinations no school and you have to take DC vaccination book with you to register a child at school.

It's the way it should be.

What about compulsory vitamins for school aged children? After all vits c and d have been proven to help reduce infectious diseases. Feel comfortable with that? See what I mean, compulsory vaccination feels like the thin end of the wedge.

The flu jab is up to you. I can get it because it is not a live vaccine. I know it is not as effective as I'd like. Flu is horrible, especially for those with immune system problems like me. If you don't have your child vaccinated, please think of your elderly relatives or immunocompromised neighbours. Help them get the jab , if you can.

Yep, chicken pox vaccine too. I spoke about my family having it earlier in this thread - I had it as a child. Dh was very poorly with it as was one of dd's classmates. My non-U.K. family are horrified we don't have the jab.

Again, I'm not in favour of forcing anytime do anything. I am in favour of denying tax payer funded schools to those who refuse for non-medical reasons.

I think there's a lot of fear because genuine allergic reactions are denied by the medical establishment as such and that creates conspiracy theories

I agree with this.

So if vaccination is so safe, why is there vaccine damage legislation www.gov.uk/vaccine-damage-payment/overview? I don't really know why this always has to be pointed out on these threads but here we go.

Vaccination is an economic argument. It is cheaper to vaccinate and deal with a few side-effects, than it is to look after sick children and any after-effects (and it's better for the economy to have parents in work rather than looking after sick children).

Some children have bad reactions to vaccinations. In some cases those can be predicted, so the kids are not vaccinated. In some cases they can't. Those children may then have permanent disabilities.

Apparently, it is ok for a parent to risk their child being permanently disabled, in fact it is selfish for them not to. Yet if their child is the disabled one, I wonder how many of the other parents whose children thankfully came through the vaccination process unscathed, would help to look after those disabled children? Who turn into disabled adults.

Vaccination should always be a choice, never a compulsion. Personally I think, in most cases, it's a no-brainer especially eg when it comes to something like meningitis. But not everyone agrees with me.

Going on about selfish parents is not ok unless you would be happy to help look after a vaccine-damaged child. Go and read the threads on here about the problems people with disabilities face. Then come back and say it's the job of the State to remove a parent's choice as to whether to risk that or not.

If vaccines were 100% safe we would not need the vaccine damage legislation. We allow choice in medical treatment unless someone has lost capacity, I can't see what vaccination should be any different. We don't force people to take drugs to cure them. And before someone says "herd immunity" I refer you back to the paragraph above. There is no such thing as social responsibility unless it cuts both ways. And sadly it doesn't.

PinkFondant, it is inaccurate to say that smallpox was eradicated purely because of a policy of isolation. The entire programme was based on isolation combined with vaccination: the process basically involved isolating smallpox sufferers and vaccinating anyone living nearby. After the last major European outbreak in 1972 in Yugoslavia, the authorities enforced quarantine and revaccinated the population and had the outbreak contained within two months. The last pocket of smallpox was in the Horn of Africa, and again the policy used was an intensive surveillance, containment and vaccination programme in the mid 70s. Full eradication was certified in 1980. No-one suggested that isolation on its own was sufficient to eradicate smallpox.

No jabs, no school here (US - it's the same in most states, some allow a religious exemption, many only allow a medical exemption).

I don't like it on principle - very nanny state - but I'm firmly pro-vaccine so have no problem complying with it (even though there are lots more mandatory vaccines here, including varicella / chick pox)