to be cross my ds has measles because other parents didn't vaccinate their children

[snickersnack]

He's 11 months old, poor little thing . Fortunately he's going to be ok - he got off quite lightly, I think - but it was scary and he was really poorly for a day or so. Spent 10 hours in A&E yesterday while he had chest x-rays, blood tests, IV fluids etc. Now we're just waiting to see if his sister,who's 2, gets it - she's had one dose of MMR already so fingers crossed she's immune.

We live in an area where immunisation rates are among the lowest in the country. Now I have to go and tell all parents of the other babies he's met recently that their children might be at risk as well...

Oh no. What area of the country are you?

so glad he is going to be OK

YANBU

we hightailed DD1 in for her pre-school boosters - she's 5 in June - after the headmistress at her school told us they had a measles outbreak last December.

my DD1 already has a host of learning disabilities and delays.

when winter arrives, we'll also have a newborn baby at home.

measles is VERY dangerous for a newborn baby.

YABU - each parent makes a choice regarding vaccination. It's up to them to decide what is right for their child.

Sorry to hear you ds has been so poorly.

Really sorry to hear about your poor ds.
Both my parents nearly died from measles as children, so why people take this illness lightly, I don't know.

Perhaps some good will come out of this if they decide to have the MMR after all but in the meantime, get well soon to your ds.

we've had a local measles epidemic as well - it's very scary. I noticed that it got loads of parents to the vaccination clinics though

expat, did you have measles as a kid, if you did and you breastfeed you need not worry about measles for your newborn.

sorry your DS has been unwell.

Don't forget that thought that the "low" rates of immunisation simply means that many people didn't opt for the MMR, not that they didn't get the single vaccines done........

'each parent makes a choice about vaccination'

actually, they don't. They are making the choice for their child and other children/vulnerable adults they come into contact with.

why should other children pay for that decision, ILike?

potentially with their lives or their health for a lifetime?

my mother is partially deaf in one ear from measles. as she ages, that ear's given her more and more trouble. she had to have a grommet put in it last year.

a friend of ours in Edinburgh is completely blind and deaf in one ear from measles complications.

I'd feel cross, too. Those other parents of older children had a choice--your child didn't. Measles is scary.

I thought it was particularly interesting that extra mobile clinics had to be set up as soon as there were actual measles cases (and hospitalisations )

I didn't have measles as a kid, soph.

And I didn't BF DD1.

More and more mothers nowadays didn't have measles as kids.

how do you know that those children who didn't take up the MMR didn't have the single vaccines though?? There's no "data" on that as the government refuses to acknowledge that lots of parents prefer the singles to the MMR....

YANBU IMO

They had a report earlier on the news about 30 children diagnosed with measles in a school in Lewisham, Sarf london.

I didn't take ds1 for his MMR booster

I booked three appointments for it and chickened out of taking him each time

at the time his teachers were just beginning to raise the alarm about possible autism and we were going through hell with his behaviour.

sorry if I disgust you, but things aren't always as black and white as they seem from your own perspective.

The only children I know for definite that has had measles, had the MMR (including the booster!).

well, the fact that there were 317 cases in a year in my borough indicates that a few children were not immunised...

YANBU.

My daughter got mumps before her MMR too. Unfortunately, it led her to get a secondary infection, which she then had to go into hospital for and have it drained under a general anaesthetic. A lot for a little one to go through. I don't think her health has been right ever since.

So no I don't think you ABU - I think the point of vaccinations is that we live in a community, and so we all have a social responsibility to bear. Its not just a matter of making your own decision, because someone else's decision not to vaccinate risked the life of my child. Harsh, but true!

YANBU. Measles is extremely dangerous. My mum is half blind and my aunt half deaf thanks to measles but at least nothing worse happened to them. There is measles in my son's nursery atm, he is 18m so has had 1st dose MMR but if he were in the baby room I would have taken him out, no way would I let a little one be put at that risk.

I wonder if nurseries should actually take on kids without their vaccinations, given they are such general hives of infection anyway?

Actually, it may have nothing to do with immunisations. As you say, your 11 month old may have given it to others; he may have caught it from someone who couldn't have the vaccine. He may have caught it from a child who has had the vaccine but for whom it didn't work. They do exist, which is why children are given a booster before they start school.

Now I am getting scared. These outbreaks are around me and I am 5 weeks pregant. Does anyone know whether the fact that I have had measles before means that my unborn child is protected if I am exposed to measles.

"I wonder if nurseries should actually take on kids without their vaccinations,"

so what do you propose working parents of children under 13months (or older in some areas) do for childcare?????