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?

of course anyone who couldn't be vaccinated or was recommended not to vaccinate would be exempt and be protected by herd immunity. that's the point, right?

But the child who almost died at eight weeks following vax has already been at great risk. It's a bit late to decide vax aren't a good idea for them.

IMO it is for every parent to weigh up the arguments for themselves, and reach their own decision. They're not obliged in any way to come to any decision in particular. If they wish to take their chances with chicken pox over a potentially fatal reaction to a vax it's their call.

My children have had some vax but not others and I really don't give a monkeys what anyone else thinks about it. No one even knows, actually.

I personally believe people who abort unborn children are doing something very wrong and detrimental to children but I don't go around airing that view and don't believe anyone is obliged to care what I think about it. My point being that we all have the right to our own decisions and the morality of others shouldn't be imposed.

I'm a tax payer and rightly benefit from the same services that others do. If any of these services were withdrawn I would expect to pay less tax.

yawn can I ask, did you not have the MMR as a child yourself? Or is the issue that because you now have a compromised immune system, any previous vaccinations are no longer effective?

Reading this thread has made me think - I am very pro vax, my children are completely vaccinated, but my mum mentioned casually a few years ago that I never had the MMR as a child (apparently I was ill each time it was due and she never bothered after that ). I had measles as a child and the rubella jab as a teenager, but as far as I am aware I have never had mumps nor am I immune to it (I'm 37). Would they give me a jab for it now?

Pink - don't feel guilty.---- I didn't blame anyone when I got it and I'm sure your Dad didn't blame you.

Well in our case there was no medical recommendation not to vaccinate. We were told the chances of her reacting were much increased next time, but it was our decision. So I'm not sure if we would be covered by the medical exemption?

gonetosee
But a woman who chooses to abort an unborn child (who has no legal rights until it leaves the womb) isn't putting other people's children's lives at risk by making that decision

all yes they would vaccinate now. In my last pregnancy my immunity for rubella was very low and they advised me to get vaccinated after the birth.

I didn't have the MMR due to an egg allergy but have been vaccinated separately as an adult for rubella
A few weeks ago I was sat in the doctors waiting room when someone in there disclosed they had chicken pox. I'm neutropenic which makes me immunosuppressed. Never seen me run so fast

But the child who almost died at eight weeks following vax has already been at great risk. It's a bit late to decide vax aren't a good idea for them.

This is a very good point. I think it's all very well us sitting here umming and ahhing about what's best, but without knowing the actual statistics it's impossible for us to know what's acceptable.

Saying that, I am coming from the perspective that if the risk of a negative outcome from vaccinations was comparatively low and the risk from not vaccinating was comparatively high, there would be a case for obligating parents to take that risk - assuming they want their child to engage in mainstream schooling. On this we may fundamentally disagree, but people do. It's quite at the heart of left wing vs. right wing ideologies in fact.

Thank you Yawn

But- although this is taking away the spirit of an agreessive shouty thread done a million times- this is the choice they make isn't it? The OP seems surprised as though this is a new low.
But this is what every anti Vaxxer has decided they are comfortable with. This is what anti vaxxing is about.

That said I agree with eve- in this case sadly the sensible answer is for the child to stay at home if they are that auto compromised. They can still be infected with a variety of diseases you can't have vaccines against. Childhood cancer is utterly heartbreaking and it's unfortunate but to be expected that the child's life will have to change. It's unrealistic to expect that people will change their view on vaccinations over it.

I personally believe people who abort unborn children are doing something very wrong and detrimental to children but I don't go around airing that view and don't believe anyone is obliged to care what I think about it. My point being that we all have the right to our own decisions and the morality of others shouldn't be imposed.

What an idiotic statement. The two things are not remotely comparable. How does a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy impact on the health of children at school?

I'd just like to say I'm pro vaccine all three of mine had them all and I pushed my GP to give ds1 the new meningitis vaccine BUT a lot of people would vaccinate if the single jabs were offered. Girls need rubella and I along with every girl at my girls school was vaccinate at 13 boys were not. All need vaccines for measles and mumps. If the single vaccines were still allowed then the jabs could be spaced out rather than half a dozen on one day. I accept there'd be say 3 months when a toddler hadn't had 2 of the 3 vaccines but that's better surely than that child remaining unvaccinated.
My eldest was due vaccination at the height of the MMR scare and I researched every symptom of autism and watched like a hawk with my PFB when he developed a sudden likely for tomato ketchup 2wks after the jab I may have shat myself as I was told that was an indicator

I am usually pro vac, but I have refused to allow my daughter to have the nasal flu vaccine. She is in year 3 and has decided she doesn't want the spray up her nose and rather take her chances with flu. I decided to respect her opinion. If the vaccine was for a more serious condition then I would force the issue.

All her others jabs are up to date. Should dd denied a school place? What about the Muslim kids whose parents don't want pork fat sprayed up their noses? Where should government interference with parenting stop.

My children have had some vax but not others and I really don't give a monkeys what anyone else thinks about it.
That right there is exactly my point, you don't give a monkeys about anyone else or their kids.
franincisco I'd class the increased risk of a bad reaction as medical exemption.

I didn't have the MMR due to an egg allergy

MMR doesn't contain egg now!!

DS has a quite severe egg allergy and has just had it having been advised by the hospital (and NHS online) that it's fine. Something about them growing it on chick cells but it not actually containing any allergens... i forget the details.

All of. I am an old duffer. We didn't have measles vax when I was a kid. Mumps and measles were something you just got. I had mumps (remember having it) but not measles. I had chicken pox so when my dh(poor sod) and dd got it, I was the healthiest person in the house . When we got the mmr for dd, I made enquiries about getting it too or even paying for me to get the measles jab because it was the one bit of the jigsaw missing for me. I was told that it would be dangerous for me to have the vaccine because it is a live vaccine. So I take my chances and hope the herd in my area smartens its act up.

ReallyTired Muslim and Jewish kids where we live are given the option of an injection for the flu vaccine that doesn't contain any pork traces.

YANBU

Post-factual medicine - drives me nuts!!

As for when government interference should stop, perhaps when the last child dies from having an entirely preventable dose of measles!?!

Also from the Australian posters on this thread it doesn't seem that there is a no vaxx- no school policy. It would be interesting to see if anyone had implemented one without penalising the poor

I agree - people think measles's "just a few spots". It isn't. It's a KILLER! And those people who survive are often left blind, deaf or brain-damaged. Same with many other "childhood" illnesses. Because we see them so rarely these days, we have no idea how devastating and dangerous they are.

People also only think of Rubella being risky for pregnant women, but like Roald Dahl's daughter I was recovering from Rubella when I was struck down by encephalitis.

I was one of the 'lucky' ones - I escaped 'only' with deafness and crippling migraines. I was 5.

This was before the MMR was available. I was left so weakened that when the MMR came out the GP advised my parents to get me vaccinated because they thought if I ever got measles it would almost definitely kill me.

When I was at secondary school there was a measles outbreak. I was one of the few people in the year to have had an MMR because it had not been given to my generation. I opted for a booster anyway, because I didn't want to get that ill again.

I've now got confirmed total immunity. I would not wish what I went through on anyone, and if that had happened to a child with cancer I don't think they'd survive it.

My DS is fully vaccinated and Autistic. I would rather him be that than dead, even though I never believed that one discredited study anyway (although I've had plenty of people try to tell me immediately wrong and caused DS's autism).

I'm also immunocompromised now as I've had a transplant. When a friend posted on FB that her DDs had 'a touch of the mumps' I wanted to say "Please keep the fuck away from me." Thankfully I was able to avoid contact and as she HE DS didnt have to see them at school. I was just 'too busy' to visit for several weeks. She knows how I feel about vaccines, but blatantly ignores it as 'a matter of personal choice'.

eatsleep - yeah I heard it doesn't now, but at the time I was advised not to have it (it was very new and I had stopped breathing twice due to reaction to egg)

Don't see how a no vax no school policy penalises the poor. It penalises the foolish. Happy to be put right on this, of course.

I had the measles vax, and yet still got measles! It would be useful to have stats on the effectiveness of the vaccines as well, for those children who are perhaps at risk from having a vaccine, but their parents have to decide if the risk is worth it to protect from the disease and its consequences (on them or other people). Information on the actual effectiveness of the vaccine would be a useful piece of information, but seems rarely mentioned.

Things like flu vaccine are not only for the benefit of the children having them, but also for the benefit of elderly and others, since children are very effective at passing on those sorts of viruses. I do still think it should be up to parents (and children) whether they should get it or not, but I'd also want to make sure that the child realised that the risk was also that the virus could be more easily passed on to other people, not just that they might suffer flu themselves.

I am immune suppressed and a while ago spent some time,with a child with chickenpox. I didn't think there was any risk as I had it as a child.
I didn't catch chicken pox but shortly afterwards developed a severe chest infection and other horrible symptoms.
I was ill for 3 months.
My GP was visiting me at home and almost admitted me to hospital. He didn't want to as I would be exposed to other things there.
I had no idea that this could happen but now am aware that immune suppressed people can react badly to any illness, even those they have already had or been vaccinated against.