To still really worry about the MMR jab?

[pastalady]

My DS of 2 yrs 4 mnths had it today after we put it off for ages because of concerns. Have dreaded him having it because of all the scare stories I have read about it. Read the MMR facts website which made me feel better, but I can't stop thinking about the stories I've read about parents who's toddlers regressive autism/severe illness and even death coincided with the jab and medical people who still keep piping up about it being unsafe.

I really don't know if we've made the right decision. Am I being unreasonable to still feel worried like this so far down the MMR scandle line?

all i can add is that my friends little boy nearly died of measles (11 months old) - it was terrifying - so i think you made the right decision

I am sure that you will be fine. I am going to arrange for DS to have it soon after doing all of the worrying that you have. He is nearly 4

Gess is the lady for this or search old messages.

YANBU - I worried too and I should think every other parent who has been exposed to all the bad press does the same. I kept thinking back to all I'd read once I had DS immunised - he was fine of course. You are only human.

YANBU to be worried. For me though after doing lots of research I felt that the risk of not giving it to my little boy was greater than the risk of giving it. PLus every doctor I know has given it to their children without question. Try not to worry honey - sure he will be fine

Just read an old mumsnet MMR thread. Some posts reassuring, others not of course.

To read of other peoples children suddenly becomming ill like that makes me feel cold. If anything happens to my DS I will never forgive myself.

I'm thinking now I should have waited longer. The way I feel at this exact moment - I don't hink I was ready to make a final decision.

Pastalady, the way I think of it is that measles CAN kill. It is a very nasty disease.

YANBU to be worried. Jabs are a big deal I think. But you're weighing up the pros and cons which is a GOOD thing.

Measles rarely kills but it can be nasty.

Mumps very very rarely kills but in adults can very rarely cause sterility. It's often more severe in an adult as well. Not nice.

German measles never killed anybody but if a pg woman gets it and she's not immune, her baby could be damaged by it.

I'm waiting until my DCs are a lot older and going for the single jabs.

YANBU. I too am still stressing over this and my DD is 2.3 now. I delayed as I wanted her to be a little bit older and thought to myself "once she is two I will do it" She is turned two and I can't bring myself to do it. I have had both measles and rubella as a child, to no ill effect. I know they can both cause problems IF she gets them and IF she is unlucky. But that feels very different to deliberately giving an inmmunisation that I am not confident of. It's not just the autism hoo-hah that bothers me. I don't think I'd want the jab myself, so to give it to my precious daughter... (haven't even thought about having to make the decision for my baby boy yet either)
My DD was pretty ill after the third 5-in-1 jab too, which I wasn't warned about the possibility of so my confidence in our medical system isn't great at the moment!
If you find a crystal ball to allow you to find out the answer - let me know!

YANBU if you are seriously looking into the subject and not just reading the scaremongering headlines.It is a difficult decision.I choose not to give my my eldest daughter the whooping cough vac (family history asthma) although she had the others. Of course she went on to get whooping cough and was terribly sick .It was awful watching my baby gasping for air.I got it as well as my immunity had obviously faded and it was a really horrible time for us all .The elderly consultant in hospital was bloodly cross when she heard we opted out of vac for unfounded fears. The doc was around in the days when measles, mumps etc were common.She reminded us that 1 million kids around the world still die every year from measles and filled us in on all the other, many, possible horrible side effects of the others. I made sure my other kids were fully vaccinated.
My cousin , a teacher, endured a very stressful pregnancy when her pupil(non immunised by choice) got measles. Thankfully the pupil, my cousin and her ds were fine but it did make me think about how far reaching some decisions can be.

You're not being unreasonable to worry - I worry about DS learning to drive sometimes (he's 18 months!). Worrying comes with the territory. You have done your research and made an informed decision, it's the best you can do.

Parents are not perfect, the best we can hope for is the be good enough. No point worrying about it now its done though. FWIW I have made the same decision after doing my research.

They're not always cross- the consultants were fine with me when they met totallly unvaxed ds3 after I explained why he hadn't been vaccinated.

If anyone wants a good book to weigh up decisions then try the truth about vaccinations written by the NHS GP Richard Halvorsen. He doesn't downplay the diseases, just gives the full story behind the different issues.

pastalady- even the people working on MMR/autism think that less than 10% of children with autism have had it triggered by the MMR. It doesn;t strike randomly, it strikes susceptible children. I wouldn't spend the next few days panicking. Im sure he'll be fine (although I'd recommend reading the book before the boosters, or to answer any future vaccination questions )

There was a thread about this yesterday with very good posts by Gess.

Anyways, things mentioned included that MMR is safe for the great majority of children, that the likelyhood of getting autism is minimal, that singles tend to be more effective, and at a risk of misquoting... that if you dont have a history of Crohn disease in your family there is not much to worry about.

Hope that helps

here she is!

ask for a thorough consultation bar in mind the clinical efficacy and research methods of the original Royal Free MMR study have now been undermined and disputed. all but one author is it McLeod have withdrawn their findings and imo public health immunisation is une of the most sognificant medical interventions virtually eradicating many diseases

i had mine given the MMR

the area i live in has had a measles epidemic

Completely understandable to be worried but if it helps; article in the New Scientist a while ago saying that in japan they moved to the single jabs as a nation and 5 years later their autism rate was slightly up. So thats millions of children and there was no sign of a link. That coupled with the fact that as a child growing up in the middle east I used to visit kids in a local hospital left mentally handicapped by measles meant I skipped into the doctors surgery for dd1's jabs.

I'm TRYING to keep away. I wouldn't quite say 'you'll definitely not have a problem if you haven't got crohn's in your family' but I would say 'do be careful if you have crohn's in your family' if that makes sense!

Read Halvorsen's book though- he really weighs it all up.

We did the MMR (at 13 and a bit months) with ds with considerable reluctance and trepidation. The likelihood was always that he'd be fine, and he was, but I do have a slight tendency to minor auto-immune issues, which worried me. After the event it felt like smething of a gamble and we have now made a decision against any further MMRing for him or his imminent sibling. We will, however, be doing singles (including a measles booster for ds soon if he needs it). I am pro-vax on the whole and would be uncomfortable about leaving ds or dc2 unimmunised for measles in childhood, or mumps/rubella past puberty.

the royal free study had 12 children in it a recent scandanavian study had 55,000 in it they showed no increase in the incidence of autism and certainly no link with Crohn's you need to base your decision on valid scientific evidence that has a robust methodology and has been peer reviewed. The lancet have stated they should never have published the wakefield et al paper and it has subsequently emerged that he was being paid to act for families who believed their children to be vaccine injured hardly and unbiased researcher

Oh andiem, if you want good referenced comments I suggest you read the other thread too

brilliant post yep im in agreement wakefield professional judgement was compromised from the outset - he is also facing bmj conduct disciplinary at mo

thanks Isababel but am lecturer in child health I have read all the evidence

And so was I, that doesn't mean I know everything about my subject (and finding where different opinions came from or why they exist is the thing I find more fascinating about doing research! ). A

Funny the way that came out... correction I was a lecturer, yes, not in child health but I stand by what I said about finding out about different opinions

Isababel but this isn't about opinion it is about evidence and they are 2 different things. Anyway I'm off to bed lo will be waking soon..........