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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

London parents - will you be giving your kids under 10 the polio booster?

180 replies

Digimoor · 19/08/2022 12:46

I just got a text with details of the polio booster they are offering
Dependent on age it will be a 6 in 1 or 3 in 1/ 4 in 1 jab with the other childhood vaccines included (eg Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping cough etc)

IABU to think my kid is fully vaccinated so why bother?

YABU = I will give my kids the booster
YANBU = I won't

OP posts:
DaphneduM · 19/08/2022 14:01

I would definitely get it. Polio is an awful disease and so scary to think it could become prevalent again. My Mum had it and struggled with her mobility all her life. Terrible disease.

Phineyj · 19/08/2022 14:07

The background to this was covered in the BBC articles published when the story first broke.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 19/08/2022 14:10

Of course I will. Got it booked. I only wish my 13 yo could get one too.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 19/08/2022 14:10

Reason being, I don’t want him to get polio! Both have had their infant jabs though.

Spinninggyro · 19/08/2022 14:11

Polio is horrible, I’m in my sixties and it was common to see children and adults who had been damaged by it. About 8000 people a year were paralysed by it in the UK every year before the vaccine was introduced. Boosting a child’s immunity not only protects them but also others around them.

BobMortimersPocketMeat · 19/08/2022 14:15

My uncle died of polio at the age of three.

If I had children I would do anything to protect them from a disease which could kill or paralyse them.

Your child has already safely had two vaccinations against polio, so why the reticence about a booster? Public health officials have been considering this since it first came to light, and have decided that a reasonable and proportionate way to mitigate the risks is this vaccination booster programme.

Why wouldn’t you believe them?

OneForTheRoadThen · 19/08/2022 14:17

Yep - I'm in London and have a 4 and a 6 year old. Both will get it if available. The 6 year old has also had 2 covid vaccine doses.

FourChimneys · 19/08/2022 14:17

A family friend was badly affected by Polio. She had a horrible childhood and went on to have a rather sad life as a consequence.

In her memory alone I would be first in the queue with my DC if they were invited to have the jab.

Given that the NHS is on its knees, I doubt if they are doing this for a lark. Someone somewhere will know a lot more than the armchair experts.

Pinkflipflop85 · 19/08/2022 14:18

Yes, without a second thought.

Lakeyloo · 19/08/2022 14:22

I am the child of a polio survivor. My Mum was "lucky" she spent a relatively short time in an iron lung as a 2 year old , and only spent half of her childhood in a London hospital (in an era when relatives were only allowed to visit every now and again), and the other half of her childhood in callipers. She had lots of surgery when I was growing up to try and correct some of the issues. I spent a lot of my early childhood with my grandparents.
She's still going strong and is absolutely amazing... never complains about what she has missed out on and makes the best of everything. She's only recently been convinced to get a blue badge and hates using her walking sticks as she says they make her look like an old lady (late 70's 😂)
She really suffers now. Constant pain and her mobility is getting so much worse as she gets older...…but she's alive.
This absolutely isn't an illness that just goes away and you get on with your life. It's a horrible, terrible disease which has serious impact on the rest of your life - if you are lucky enough to survive .
Please take the vaccine if offered. The risk of polio is very small (at the moment) but it's not a risk worth taking if you don't have to (This is very close to my heart in case you couldn't tell 😆)x

BobMortimersPocketMeat · 19/08/2022 14:22

Oh, also, we had this long thread just over a week ago where you another poster was posting a similar question and refused to even consciously that the people saying ‘yes’ were right. It might save everyone making the same comments over and over to no avail.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/childrens_health/4608439-children-aged-1-9-in-london-to-be-offered-polio-vaccine?page=7&reply=119151115

rainbowunicorn · 19/08/2022 14:24

I would think that you were a bit thick if you didn't get them done considering the information that is freely available explaining why it needs to happen.

NC1843 · 19/08/2022 14:25

IABU to think my kid is fully vaccinated so why bother?

If your* *child is under 10, then they are not fully vaccinated against polio.

As per NHS website, doses are offered at 8, 12 & 16 weeks, 3 years 4 months, and 14 years. You need all 5 of these vaccinations to be fully vaccinated against polio. If the child is under 14, they would only have had the chance to receive 4 doses.

Lakeyloo · 19/08/2022 14:25

DaphneduM · 19/08/2022 14:01

I would definitely get it. Polio is an awful disease and so scary to think it could become prevalent again. My Mum had it and struggled with her mobility all her life. Terrible disease.

💜

Drywhitefruitycidergin · 19/08/2022 14:26

Yes mine will be getting jabbed once the invite comes through.

Mariposista · 19/08/2022 14:27

My grans cousin contracted Polio as a teenager in the 1950s. She is practically paralised and relies on crutches at best, usually a wheelchair. Please get the jab.

passport123 · 19/08/2022 14:29

Sadly my youngest is just a bit too old, but if offered then of course I would be giving it. I'm not stupid.

passport123 · 19/08/2022 14:30

Though some will of course turn it down. No minimum intelligence test to become a parent.

CruCru · 19/08/2022 14:34

Actually this thread has given me the shove I needed to ring my local chemist to ask if they’ll do the DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, polio booster) for my son. Thanks OP!

GabriellaMontez · 19/08/2022 14:35

picklemewalnuts · 19/08/2022 13:48

The existing vaccination schedule WAS adequate, to prevent polio getting established and spreading.

The situation has become a bit riskier, there's a new strain actively circulating in London, so a booster will top up protection and again prevent the spread and serious illness.

A new strain actively circulating?I've not seen this info. Where did you read this?

GabriellaMontez · 19/08/2022 14:35

picklemewalnuts · 19/08/2022 13:48

The existing vaccination schedule WAS adequate, to prevent polio getting established and spreading.

The situation has become a bit riskier, there's a new strain actively circulating in London, so a booster will top up protection and again prevent the spread and serious illness.

A new strain actively circulating?I've not seen this info. Where did you read this?

jessycake · 19/08/2022 14:38

Is it even a jab ? The booster used to drops on the tongue ,or In my case many years ago it was given on a sugar lump which was a bonus . I wouldn't hesitate for polio , it was a nasty illness and when I was a child, I remember there were children only a few years older than me disabled by it.

SmallestInTheClass · 19/08/2022 14:38

Not in London but would take it up for my kids. I couldn’t live with myself if they were permanently disabled because I couldn’t be bothered to vaccinate them. If that doesn’t bother you then take the chance on the roulette wheel, the odds are they won’t get it so it’s a gamble many will be happy to take.

Twizbe · 19/08/2022 14:41

@GabriellaMontez they found some live virus in the sewage in north London. So far there have been no new unexplained cases (as far as I can tell)

What they've found seems to be the live virus that forms part of the old style vaccination (the drop on the tongue) it's still used in some countries but not in the UK.

I get the feeling that it is a better safe than sorry situation. For other illnesses they might not have bothered to do a booster, but polio is something else. They don't want any cases.

MajorCarolDanvers · 19/08/2022 14:45

I am not in London but if I was I wouldn't hesitate.

Why on earth would you risk this terrible disease?