Do children in the UK have to be vaccinated to attend school?

[AlexiaRivers]

Is there a question on schools application forms that ask wether a child has had their vaccines before they start? If so do the schools prioritise based on this?

For reasons I won't go into on this thread, I have chosen not to vaccinate so am just curious if this will have an impact on the school application process when the time comes.

JassyRadlett yet some of the vaxxed kids in her class have had measles, mumps, whooping cough, HFM, shingles, you name it...and she hasn’t caught any of it? How does your claim
make any sense? The vaxxed kids still catch these diseases and spread them.

Plus ear infections, eye infections, bladder infections, cellulitis...
My child, so far, none of the above. Chicken pox at 6 months old and nothing else. She’s 9.

No, and this is a complicated area ethically, but my view is that ultimately medical autonomy is correct and children do not belong to the state.

Explaining statistics to people who don't understand them is futile.

So I won't.

@Purplewatch so you think vaccinations cause
Cellulitis
Cystitis
Ear infections
Eye infections?

Fuck me I've heard it all now

My nine-year-old great neice is unvaxxed and, like Purplewatch's dd, has hardly ever been sick, while all her playmates miss tons of school through sickness.

My neighbour smoked her whole life and died at 100. Smoking is therefore good for you. Right?

@MrsTerryPratchett
Fair enough, but nobody is doing any study comparing the health of the vaccinated vs unvaccinated, so we only have anecdote to go on.

Of course they are. Lots of them.

The thing is, @Purplewatch and @Coyoacan, looking at the health of one or two children is useless when trying to judge the health of a vaccinated vs unvaccinated population. You need to look at thousands, or hundreds of thousands, for patterns to become really clear. And the science shows that a population of children vaccinated against, say, measles, will suffer from measles far, far less than an unvaccinated population.

The children you know are healthy and lucky and, as a pp said, they are also being protected from disease by virtue of herd immunity. So, okay, one of their class gets mumps...but the others don't (because they're vaccinated) and that protects your unvaccinated DC. If almost all of the class got mumps the chances are very high your DC would too.

I know two sisters, both vaccinated. One hasn't been to the doctor in the 10 years since she was an infant, barely gets a sniffle. Her sister seems to catch everything going. The fact is, the health of an individual child can't tell us anything about how effective, or not, vaccination is at preventing disease.

Well yes, @Bubbleguppette, there are no comparative studies, so we are just left with anecdotes.

Why do you keep stating that as fact? Of course there are.

Not necessary for attending school in the UK. Quite handy for avoiding potentially fatal diseases.

There are more and more immunocompromised children every year, this is because childhood cancer is no longer always terminal.

She has probably not caught anything because her classmates are vaccinated, as are most people she encounters.

By your own admission the one time she was in a the presence of a childhood illness she caught it. Maybe she has been very lucky and not encountered any of the others.

But here's the kicker, no matter how strong she is, how effective her immune system is if she does catch one then she is on her own.

She might as well be in the 1950s, measles has made a comeback and could kill her, or just leave her deaf.

Rubella might not have much affect but she could infect a pregnant woman.

Will you be laughing then?

BTW I hope she remains lucky, I really do.

I've never needed a seat belt, I still wear one.

I quite simply do not believe you.

If a class of children have had all of those things it would be written up in a medical journal and be on the news. For Jan to March this year the lab confirmed cases in England are:

Measles 174
Rubella 24
Mumps 309

www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-mumps-and-rubella-lab-confirmed-cases-in-england-2022/laboratory-confirmed-cases-of-measles-rubella-and-mumps-in-england-january-to-march-2022

I doubt all 24 Rubella cases are all in your dd's class. As for shingles, really?

“My own child is completely unvaxxed. She has never had any typical childhood diseases apart from chickenpox which she caught from a child in paediatric A&E at 6 months old! She’s as strong as an ox and super healthy. Never had an upset tummy or ear infection or any other common childhood infection that jumps from child to child in her class (HFM, d&v etc). And SHE’s the one you think should not be in school because she’s a danger to others? 😂”

Good Lord this level of stupidity from a grown adult is astounding. Your daughter hasn’t caught any serious childhood illness because the vast majority of her peers have been vaccinated. You’ve outsourced her protection to other parents who actually do have some level of civic and personal responsibility and have chosen to vaccinate their children.

OP you probably weren’t looking for a pile-on but can you imagine the repercussions if more parents acted as you have. It wasn’t so long ago children would regularly die from polio, diphtheria, measles, …… why do we have such heartbreakingly short memories?

@sashh I was just about to say that must be the unluckiest school class in the country. Blatant bullshit to try and justify their ignorance.
@TheWrongAllmanBrother I don't think it's as much of having short memories, but more of a case that they are not old enough to know how bad it was before vaccinations almost eradicated these diseases. I'm 48, and was seriously ill with measles when I was 5, there was a huge outbreak where I lived at the time, and unfortunately my cousin, who also caught it, suffered encephalitis, and it left him severely brain damaged, he died a few years later as a result. Another couple of boys from the area were left completely deaf.
Such a devastating disease that we so nearly got rid of, is now coming back thanks to these muppets.

While I think you’re talking shite about the illnesses if your child’s class, I will ask this-

If you had to relocate somewhere tomorrow with low vaccination rates and high infant mortality as a result and a poor healthcare system, would you vaccinate your child? Like, think sub-Saharan Africa where 10% of children don’t see their fifth birthday.

Of course you would, because you see a risk to her.

Currently in the UK, she’s at low risk thanks to her peers and the generations before them being vaccinated.

You seem to think you’ve made some wise decision here- you haven’t, you’ve just benefitted from others around you making the smart choice.

Of course they aren't all. But if you include child benefitand the childcare top up lots will be, all earning under 100k. It would be a start

I'll never understand not vaccinating. In my own family;

My uncle lost the use of his arm to polio
My husband lost his testicle to mumps
My aunt lost her hearing in one ear to measles
My ex lost his baby sister to meningitis aged 2

As an unvaccinated child - Please please rethink your decision.

I have "experienced" Measles, Mumps, Whooping cough & Rubella. My own children are vaccinated for everything.

I was very very ill with mumps, and hallucinating. Whooping cough was grim.

I had several months off school when I managed to catch Measles, followed by chicken pox and whooping cough one after the other.

I have no idea why you would think this is a good idea?

@Purplewatch instead of being smug and appearing stupid, how about you THANK all of the rest of us - the parents who stood back and said, “you know what these diseases are HORRIBLE and we need herd immunity, I’m going to get the vaccinations for my child which are a far better option than letting these diseases spread again.”

Come on, I’m waiting for our thank you as WE have protected YOUR child…. Oh and by the way, yes I do know a child who had mumps and measles at the same time and nearly died. Really hope your dd never ends up somewhere that’s a possibility as it would be a nasty, nasty way to go.

I'm a childminder and I won't accept unvaccinated children. I really wish it was compulsory for schools too.

I wasn't vaccinated. There was some blimp in the system late 70 early 71 in our area of the UK. I never knew until I was pregnant so I was very luckily protected by herd vaccinations.

There is a very interesting PBS documentary on this subject. And it includes all the research. There is no significant difference in illness rates ou autism rates or anything else in the vaccinated children.

In France, where I've lived for all my adult life, childhood vaccinations are obligatory for school, pre-school, holiday clubs etc.

My children are vaccinated and are also 'as strong as an ox'. What's your point?

Hopefully your dd won't end up in A&E again or want to travel. Hopefully she will want to lead a small life.