Single jabs rather than MMR

[candr]

I have been looking into getting DS the single vaccines rather than the MMR jab but am struggling to find somewhere that does it especially as the mumps vaccine is not being made as single jab dose now. Does anyone have any advice on where I can go for this as HV has to advise me to have the MMR and Dr has not been much help.

[GailTheGoldfish]

Thanks, was just interested to know as I have heard a few people say similar things. Hope she is back to her happy self now.

[Cupcakemummy85]

Most of my friends with children say their children were the same. She sort of back to herself but with a few toddler tantrums thrown in as well lol. It really was a struggle after the jabs and a lot of people I know have said exactly the same. So my advise would b try and get them done separately but if U can't just try and make ur child as happy as possible because five different injections all at once is a lot of a little person :(

[LeBFG]

Just to add to the discussion here, not to really address OP's problem. MMR has not been shown to be linked with autism or a whole list of other immune system dysfunctions such as asthma....and a lot of research has been done into this post-Wakefield.

To the comment 'There do not seem to be issues if children have the jab around puberty.' I would very much like to read some research about this. Babies have very developed immune systems, certainly by the 12m mark. There is no merit to delaying until puberty for this reason imo.

Although mumps is rare at the present time, there is still more merit to vaccinating than not. And also, diseases currently rare may not be so in 5-10 years time, especially if people stop vaccinating. You can't predict the future.

Needless to add, I just think it would be whole lot easier to get the MMR. Less needles and doctor visits too.

[radicalsubstitution]

Both my children have had the MMR vaccine. Neither had any reaction more severe than for any other vaccine.

For those who don't want to 'overload' their childrens' immune systems with so many vaccinations at once, remember that the pneumococcus vaccine covers 17 seperate strains of the bacteria.

Dr Andrew Wakefield's study has been disproved time and time again. There is simply no scientific evidence that MMR causes any reaction that would not be caused by any other vaccine. Private clinics, however, have made quite a mint from the paranoia surrounding this.

[Tincletoes]

Just to say my two eldest DC had the MMR and my youngest will be the second she can (next month thank god). And my eldest 2 were absolutely fine, as were all my friends' children. Amazingly enough though, all the children then got bigger and started developing toddler personalities! They also were allowed to eat honey at about the same age, maybe I should start some half baked theory that honey is to blame for it all!

I would reiterate the post above, study after study has disproved Wakefield's quack research which it was established was PAID FOR by those with interest in single vaccines.

[Cupcakemummy85]

Well I'm just talking from personal experience and if your children haven't had a reaction then that is wonderful to hear! My daughter wasn't well at all after and yes she may have come into the toddler stage but I think every mother knows when their children aren't right. I say go with ur gut instinct. If u feel like you want ur child to have all jabs then go for it if not have the separate. Ur the mum it's up to you, not us. :)

[Pagwatch]

Tincletoes

That is an impressively aggressive and patronising post for so early in the day.

As my son was extremely unwell after his MMR, his subsequent developmental regression is a matter of medical record. He now has multiple difficulties including gut problems and learning difficulties. Our GP strongly supported our decision not to vaccinate as has my DDs consultant.
So perhaps dismissing everyone who has had a child with a severe reaction to a vaccination is ..well...a bit thick. Unless you know about every contributing families autoimmune history and background of vaccine reaction of course.

Or maybe you could just try to post in a more polite way and give the sanctemonious arrogance a bit of a swerve.

[LeBFG]

Err, I think that was a bit excessive and agressive on your part Pagwatch actually.

THe scientific studies speak for themselves. What I find worrying are the posters like cupcakemummy who say 'go with your gut instinct'. Nobody likes to make their DC cry with jabs so to some extent we would all avoid doing it if we were to follow our gut instincts. But by doing so, one would not be able to vaccinate against mumps and be putting our DCs at risk. A sorry state of affairs.

[Pagwatch]

You may be right. In which case I apologise.

I have no problem with people posting a rebuttal to the 'go with your instincts' type posts.
I just take issue with sneery 'ooh maybe it's honey' stuff.

It's a serious issue. I never would tell people not to vaccinate, most people should. But implying that everyone who has concerns about vaccination born of experience is a fucknugget is uncalled for. I hate cheap shots

[Cupcakemummy85]

That is ridiculous! I'm not saying dont vaccinate I'm saying its up to her if he does them all at one or space them out. It's not fair to say things like that and I think it's a little bit rude to be honest

[Tincletoes]

And Pagwatch I'm sorry if you think my post was at anyone who doesn't vaccinate. I know there are some people who have v good reason not to ( all the more reason for those of us not in that position to do so).

You clearly have medical basis for your decisions. What really gets me is glib statements like "most children I know have been affected" which is clearly just rubbish. Most children are absolutely fine. I hope people don't go with "gut instinct" and instead do proper research and maybe talk to people with proper knowledge than rely on heresay on the Internet.

[Cupcakemummy85]

And I think it's important as mums to encourage and support each other not patronise and put other people down. It's a real shame!

[Brycie]

"nobody likes to make our DC cry with jabs"

Oh my goodness that's so patronising! Do you think that's what people are really worried about!!!

[Tincletoes]

And the honey point was just to try to say that maybe there's a reason toddlers start behaving like they do which has nothing to do with outside effect and everything to do with normal development.

[Cupcakemummy85]

I think tincletoes u r taking I'm saying and twisting it and taking it out of context! I am speaking from my experience and my friends. For u I dismiss everything I say is just rude and really insulting. I thought people on here would have more class than that

[radicalsubstitution]

And I think it's important as mums to encourage and support each other.

I absolutely agree with this statement Cupcakemummy. The best way we can support each other and our children against some of the (luckily rare) horrendous results of childhood illnesses and secondary infections that come about as a result of them is to have our children vaccinated at the earliest possible opportunity.

DD was born with a serious heart condition and spent her first year being very poorly. I couldn't give her the MMR when scheduled (despite snotty letters from the GP), as she was booked for major surgery at 13 months. She was given the jabs straight after her post-operative follow up gave her the all clear.

If she had caught mumps during that time because someone else's mummy wanted to 'go with her gut instinct' I would have been none too impressed. People who don't have their children vaccinated are relying on the herd immunity provided by those that do.

[Cupcakemummy85]

Oh my god let me see if I can say this a bit more clearly because obviously most of u aren't getting it. I said: go with ur instinct,waning I u feel like ur child should have her jabs spaced out over weeks not all in one then go for it. I did not say don't hav them at all! Wow this is really frustrating lol. Why would I say don't get jabs! There are people into tab who aren't getting the jabs because they don't belive in it and I think that's totally wrong! So, can we all c what I'm saying and get over the gut instinct comment please.
Oh and when I say support other mums I mean it. Don't patronise an be rude on these forums and judge, just be sensitive and understand what each other is going through. There is a ridiculous about of hostility here!
I'm tempted to give up on mums net to be honest. Such a shame

[LeBFG]

I can see you were trying to be helpful and supportive cupcake. I used your quote simply because it highlights a commonly repeated phrase. It's fine if your guts tell you to do CC or pick up baby etc. I've heard it used in medical contexts such as whether to vaccinate and in these contexts, this sort of advice probably isn't appropriate. But that's just my opinion.

[LeBFG]

Just cross posted cupcake. Vaccination topics frequently cause disputes. It isn't you. You did indeed refer only to separate jabs and MMR. I didn't help you either...my point was more general i.e. if you take the gut instinct argument far enough, you could easily find yourself justifying no vaccinations with perhaps no medical reason.

[Cupcakemummy85]

That isn't what I would want at all. In fact where I am there was an outbreak of mumps because people weren't vaccinating, which makes me really sad and a little worried. It would b irresponsible of me to tell people not to vaccinate and ridiculous seeing as I belive in the jabs. I was just saying personally for my next child I intend to talk to the doctor and try and space them out over perhaps weeks as all if the jabs were a bit much for my little one. I don't really like people dismissing the fact that my child had a reaction when she clearly did and it was truly upsetting as it would b for any parent and I think these forums are all about sharing ur experiences and giving friendly advise rather than butching at each other. I certainly didn't sign up for that. But I totally understand where u r coming from leBFG

[radicalsubstitution]

Cupcake, did not mean to come across as aggressive - my apologies.

I can understand why some people would choose to go for single jabs. The main issue is that there simply isn't one for mumps. If you do go for single jabs then you just won't be protected. Some people take a very 'never mind' attitude towards this, because we have benefitted over recent years from very low incidence of mumps - because most children have MMR.

Vaccinations are horrible to inflict on children. I cried when both my children had their first. I still cry when DD has her annual flu jab - and that's after having had to see her in the ICU with a four inch incision down her chest after heart surgery.

DS was horribly ill after his first MMR, but had no side-effects whatsoever from his booster. He generally had mild temperatures after all his baby vaccinations, but virtually boiled alive after the MMR. DD had no side-effects whatsoever from any of her vaccines.

[LeBFG]

I can understand people wanting to spread out if they believe their child has had a very bad reaction. If you are deciding whether to do the MMR with your first born then the 'immune overload' argument is pretty weak. I've never read anything scientific to support this hypothesis.

Radical - I cried with DS's early vaccinations. And I hardly ever cry!

[Pyrrah]

I vaccinate for everything going (grew up in developing world and saw children die from measles).

DD had the MMR and then later the same day we had the varicella done privately.

I used the First Contact clinic in Oxford Street, London and was very impressed.

Had a long talk with the nurse there about single vaccines v MMR and she told me that they had seen a lot of problems with single vaccines at various clinics.

• vaccines not transported or stored correctly
  
• vaccines bought by clinics from dubious sources
  
• clinics taking payment up front for the whole series and then going bust
  

They had a lot of parents come in to them to complete the course (and pay a second time) and many just opted for the straight MMR.

Any medicine and any vaccine will have a degree of risk - just as many foods that are safe for the majority of people can have life threatening consequences for a very small minority.

Personally I felt that the very small risk was a great deal less than the risk my daughter would face should she contract one of the illnesses. My brother got Hib infection inside the bone-marrow of his leg when he was 5 - had 3 operations and only kept his leg due to an amazing surgeon at GOSH (he tells people he was bitten by a shark). My parents would have been spared 8 months of hell had the Hib vaccine been available when he was a young child.

[DIYandEatCake]

cupcake, just to say you're not alone in your experience. I worried myself sick about dd after hers, for about 6 weeks as well she was withdrawn, would sit with a glazed expression, wouldn't interact with anyone, and would scream inconsolably for half an hour at a time. My mum and my friends also commented on how strange and unlike her usual self she was - she was previously an inquisitive, sociable and energetic little thing. I was so relieved when she slowly got back to being her old self, words can't describe. The gp said it was probably a virus and just coincidence on the timing, maybe it was, but I know that the glazed expression/withdrawal started at be drs straight after the jabs. I'm worrying already about what to do about the boosters and that's a year away yet.

I'm pro vaccine and none of my friends babies experienced anything similar, but I know if i have another dc I'll really agonise over what to do about the mmr.

[persephone22]

See vaccines.mercola.com/ for interesting info on vaccines. It's important to make informed decisions and the GPs arent always right. Also The Informed Parent website and JABS.