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Children's health

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Original poster

MMR jab worries... how do i go about getting single jabs for DD?

37 replies

OhWhatAPalaver · 16/01/2013 18:31

having read this article just now... www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/post2468343_b_2468343.html

i am now really worried about letting DD have her MMR jab, she has just turned one and it is due very soon. does anyone know how i can go about getting her singular jabs? do you have to go private or can you get them on the nhs?

thanks in advance.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Original poster

OhWhatAPalaver · 16/01/2013 18:32

that link again... www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/post2468343_b_2468343.html

OP posts:

OrchidFlakes · 16/01/2013 19:09

There are a few clinics that offer single jabs - just have a google of childhood vaccines however mumps isn't currently available in the UK and not likely to be anytime soon.

Good luck, it's such a tough decision knowing what to do for the best

Original poster

OhWhatAPalaver · 16/01/2013 20:06

i know, i'm really confused now. don't know what to do for best as have read articles both for and against the singular jabs :(

its such a horrible thing to have to do, take the extremely small risk that your child may develop autism with the MMR or alternatively risking it with the singular jabs, with even less medical research behind them, and also excluding mumps. i really don't know what to do for best!

if anyone has any more info i'd be very interested, thanks.

OP posts:

OrchidFlakes · 16/01/2013 20:57

Controversial standpoint... Could you vac ad aunts measles now, rubella when she is 11 as we all used to (rubella in itself is not dangerous unless pregnant but if course if she were to catch it you would have yo be v careful who she was exposed to if they were pregnant which then opens another whole debate!) and then weigh up the risk of mumps?

Alternatively delay MMR until she is a little older, if, as a family you are comfortable with this?

My nephew had all his vacs with no problems and my DS reacted to his first 8 week ones and is now contra-indicated to one so we too are facing singles (ironically privately as the NHS had no solution even though he can't have any more 5 in 1) It's so tough but as we are finding in the world of 'grey area' we are in its all about weighing up risks of disease with vaccines and reevaluating regularly.

My only advice is read read read on both sides of every argument and take your time. Each country vacs ant different intervals and just because NICE/NHS decided on 13 months doesn't mean it's set in stone. You can also have her immunity tested (if you went ahead with the first MMR) prior to any booster. It's costly but may be worth the investment.

Good luck

babySophieRose · 16/01/2013 22:17

My DD has the 12th&13th months immunizations at ones (current advice!) at the beginning of Dec 2012, no side effects. I was worried at the time, as she has been very unsettled after all previous immunizations, needing Calpol, being grumpy, etc. Every child is having them, so, if there isn't a special reason, don't see why not to have the combine one. It is important to be immunized, don't risks to stay away. No real evidence that it could lead to autism.

MrsHelsBels74 · 16/01/2013 22:21

I was under the impression that all links between MMR & autism had been discredited?

Original poster

OhWhatAPalaver · 16/01/2013 22:29

that is what i thought until reading that article. i am now worrying myself stupid over it. from what i've been reading there is a extremely small chance of anything untoward happening after the mmr jab, the benefits seem to outweigh the risks. i'm done with reading about it for tonight as it has mashed my brain and made me stressed!

why cant the NHS just give you the option to have it singularly? they only do it singularly in Japan, so why not here :(

OP posts:

noblegiraffe · 16/01/2013 22:36

The article doesn't say that the MMR causes autism, it appears to say that these two children who suffered side effects from vaccination (which is always a risk) were also, after some time, diagnosed with autism.

noblegiraffe · 16/01/2013 22:39

There doesn't seem to be any indication in the article either, that single jabs would have made any difference. The boy, it was claimed suffered from a cumulative effect of all vaccinations given, the girl was said to have reacted to the DTaP vaccine.

rockinhippy · 16/01/2013 22:41

I had DDs single jabs done privately with Health Choice UK, so if they are still operating I can recommend them, as hershavevworked fine - we livein the anti MMR capital & shes been exposed los & has been okay

she didn't have the Ruebella part as she'd already had that by the time jabs were due, so was apparently already immune.

My advice would be to base it on your own DCs health, if they are robust & have been fine with other jabs, then I doubt there will be any problems with MMR, lots of our friends DCs had it without problems - the one that did have problems was the least Robust of our friends twin grandsons, one twin was fine, the other not, but he always struggled with catching bugs & generally just being the sicklier twin of the 2.

My DD reacted badly to her 10 week multi jab, I wasn't told that was the reason she was very ill at the time, but reading up on the jabs at a later date, I realised that was the cause, so we stayed well clear of the MMR - & yes, bloody annoying we don't really have much choice in the UK

LadyMetroland · 16/01/2013 22:50

You do realise that the doctor who wrote the original research paper that caused the MMR scandal has been struck off? He is barred from practicing medicine and his 'research' is 100% discredited.

The original research was declared 'fraudulent' by the GMC.

Wikipedia info on single jabs

'Administering the vaccines in three separate doses does not reduce the chance of adverse effects, and it increases the opportunity for infection by the two diseases not immunized against first. Health experts have criticized media reporting of the MMR-autism controversy for triggering a decline in vaccination rates. Before publication of Wakefield's findings, the inoculation rate for MMR in the UK was 92%; after publication, the rate dropped to below 80%. In 1998, there were 56 measles cases in the UK; by 2008, there were 1348 cases, with 2 confirmed deaths.'

Ozfrazror · 16/01/2013 23:53

Where do you live? I have 3 ds and all 3 have been vaccinated with the single jabs. The 2 youngest at a private clinic in Bath and my oldest in Edinburgh when we lived in Scotland. My sister lives in the South East and she got the single jabs from a private clinic in London, which also has a clinic in Birmingham. I'm sure other areas and cities would have private clinics if you have a look.
The jabs cost £110 each so not massivly cheap but worth every penny in my opinion. Think the vaccines currently licensed are the same they use in Europe and which have also been used for years before the mmr.

Also just as another point of interest, my dm is a midwife and she is amazed at how many women who had the mmr as children are not testing immune to ruebella. The clinic in Bath also told me that there is currently a big lawsuit in the USA against some drug companies which produce the mmr because apparently they are finding that too many children are not immune to measles either!

I obviously sound biased against the mmr and I was worried like you. Unfounded or not, I decided that I would feel unhappy about my dc's getting the mmr and so I found the single jabs a better option. As noted earlier though, the UK government will not currently allow the mumps vaccine into the country under licence. - yet another reason for me to go against their advice because I refuse to be bullied into it.

Good luck and I say go with your instincts because parents know their kids better than a politician!

farewellfarewell · 17/01/2013 00:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

noblegiraffe · 17/01/2013 00:05

I thought the single mumps vaccine was unavailable because Merck stopped making it, not because of some government conspiracy.

showtunesgirl · 17/01/2013 00:12

"I obviously sound biased against the mmr and I was worried like you. Unfounded or not, I decided that I would feel unhappy about my dc's getting the mmr and so I found the single jabs a better option. "

I don't understand this. ^

So based on no evidence, you went ahead with single jabs despite acknowledging there was no proof in the benefit of it.

showtunesgirl · 17/01/2013 00:13

And this: "Good luck and I say go with your instincts because parents know their kids better than a politician! "

It's nothing to do with instincts, it's to do with proven scientific facts and the doctor who said that there was a link between MMR and autism has been totally discredited.

penguinplease · 17/01/2013 00:24

If you go for single jabs make sure you research properly, as far as I remember Healthchoice UK went bust having ripped off a lot of customers. And subsequently when some of the children were tested for immunity against the vacs they were supposed to have received it turned out they hadn't been given what they thought they were paying for and were not protected at all.

I don't speak from experience with them but I do remember a friend having a nightmare with them and losing £s about 3 years ago..

aufaniae · 17/01/2013 00:28

Please, before you go for the single jabs, educate yourself about the risks of the diseases. In all this debate about vaccines, people seem to have forgotten that the diseases the vaccine is protecting against are dangerous.

Measles for example can be fatal. This is a small but real risk; babies under a year are at greater risk than older children or adults.

There is no evidence that MMR causes autism on the other hand. None at all. What there is, is a media panic based on a study which has since been totally and completely discredited.

The Huffington Post (among many other papers) is making money (via advertising) from running a controversial story. However the effect of their profiteering is that people like you will (understandably) be worried and ultimately put their children at risk of catching diseases unnecessarily, by delaying getting their children vaccinated, or when they find that the single mumps vaccine isn't available in this country for example - as was the case a while back.

It's totally irresponsible journalism. It could potentially lead to unnecessary disease and ultimately deaths of children. The Huffington Post should be ashamed of themselves IMO.

aufaniae · 17/01/2013 00:30

""Good luck and I say go with your instincts because parents know their kids better than a politician! "

That's a bogus argument!

Instinct has no place where there is irrefutable scientific evidence (e.g. that vaccinations save countless lives).

narmada · 17/01/2013 09:16

What ladymetroland said. I cannot see the point of single vaccines at all. The article in the huffington post actually says very little of interest.

Please don't fall victim to vaccine scaremongering and leave your child at risk of preventable diseases.

narmada · 17/01/2013 09:19

Why would you 'go with your instincts' about vaccination?!?!

Would you 'go with your instincts' about cancer treatment? I hope not! Surely you'd take medical advice and do some research into the scientific evidence . As you should do with vaccines.

Chopstheduck · 17/01/2013 09:23

Lots of clinics aren't offering single jabs any more because of the mumps vaccine no longer being available.

I do feel for you, my son has a form of asd, and so I couldn't risk MMR with my younger twins, but you will get a lot of slating on here for thinking of not vaccinating.

Chopstheduck · 17/01/2013 09:24

I should probably add, that my sons asd is in no way linked to the MMR, he was born with sn and he has since had the mmr, as I thought it was unlikely to make him any worse.

worldgonecrazy · 17/01/2013 09:31

I had single jabs done, the order was in the severity/risk of disease, so we had the Prevenar jab done first as this prevents some forms of meningitis which are the biggest risk to small babies. Measles was given in a single jab after the age of 1.

If you google you should be able to find a local practice who give single jabs.

maxmillie · 17/01/2013 09:34

Merck stopped making the Mumps vaccine because they were financially incentivised to do so by the DoH, just out of interest.

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