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

[OhWhatAPalaver]

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.

[rockinhippy]

ohwhat just to reassure you, my own DD was seriously ill & ended up in hospital after her 10 week multi jab, we could have last her - I found out later that it was a known if rare complication of that particular jab, hence why I was taking no chances with the MMR - sounds like your own DD has had quite a normal reaction to her earlier jabs, so I doubt very much you have anything to worry about at all,

but yes you are right, it's wrong that we don't have a choice unless we can pay for it - though something you might want to look into if it still exists, 9 yr ago when we were looking into it, there was a charity based in the bath area offering single jabs for free or help with the cost for those that couldn't afford it, I've no idea if its still going, but certainly worth trying to find out - sorry I can't remember more

[OhWhatAPalaver]

thank you all for the replies, i know its a hot topic. i have unfortunately come to the conclusion that even if i wanted DD to have single jabs, we simply couldn't afford it, its the fact that i feel i don't have a choice that saddens me :( i know the risk of anything going wrong with the mmr is incredibly tiny but that doesn't stop me worrying. DD has had very minor symptoms after previous vaccines, such as mild fever and being generally irritable and cranky. i am hoping she is robust enough to handle the jabs well.

[ShephardsDelight]

I did this, depending on where you live there is one in Leeds? ,
you usually have to pay beforehand and its pretty steep to say the least.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

Reading Ben Goldacre's comments about the MMR debacle - I think what is conclusive was the fact that the scientific basis that Andrew Wakefield used in his paper was flawed. The conclusion he comes to is that even if the scientific basis was solid, there is no way that you can take evidence from 12 children and draw conclusions as to the reason for their autism.

[maxmillie]

I don't give a monkeys whether anyone takes me seriously or not - just prompting the OP to do their own research and come to their own conclusions - and to not necessarily be reassured by the usual flannel about Andrew Wakefield being struck off so it must be fine - it may well be but, as someone who has knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, I wouldn't rule out other agendas.

[rockinhippy]

I've a far bigger issue with those that don't vaccinate - we know several I really don't see why the issue with those of us who feel that the MMR is not for us/our DCs & choose single jabs, gets some peoples people's backs up so much - it just makes more sense not to overload a sickly DCs immune system with a multi jab, if you can do one jab at a time

& FWIW the MMR isn't fail safe either - my cousins then 6yr old grandson ended up in hospital when his measles spread to his brain & had some learning difficulties as a direct result - he DID have the MMR

[Ozfrazror]

Hey everyone who is for some reason 'appalled/astounded' by my instincts comment. Was just saying that I felt unhappy about getting the mmr so instead of ignoring my worry I got single jabs for my own peace of mind.

Doesn't bother me who can't understand that. At the end of the day I wanted a choice and I chose against the mmr.

I can't understand people who argue that it's dangerous and to look at the dangers of measles before rejecting the mmr. I took the trouble to arrange and pay for a measles vaccination that probably most of us had as youngsters before the mmr so where's the danger in that?

It's an emotive topic and people have two definite sides of the fence. I'm not being drawn into anything cos it was my choice, I was just answering the op who wanted to know about single jabs.

At the end of the day, all kids vaccinated are hopefully protected so who cares what way people choose to do it!

[noblegiraffe]

Why would you make a claim that you are unwilling to provide evidence for and expect anyone to take you seriously?

[maxmillie]

I didn't say they paid them I said they financially incentivised them. Not that I am going to prove this to you on a public internet forum of course.

[noblegiraffe]

max, so Merck, massive international pharmaceutical company and major supplier to the US vaccine market stopped making a vaccine because our Department of Health, which is strapped for cash at the best of times, paid them to not make a vaccine they don't licence and don't use? I might need to see some evidence before believing that one.

[babySophieRose]

The article is not very convincing, everyone could write and say as they wish, freedom of speech, etc. Do not believe everything you read in the press. Check some more reliable sources.

[maxmillie]

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

[worldgonecrazy]

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.

[Chopstheduck]

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.

[Chopstheduck]

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.

[narmada]

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.

[narmada]

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.

[aufaniae]

""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).

[aufaniae]

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.

[penguinplease]

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..

[showtunesgirl]

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.

[showtunesgirl]

"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.

[noblegiraffe]

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