AIBU to not take my son for his 8 week jabs..

[Princesaebs]

My son is due for his 8 week jabs in two weeks and with this virus going around I honestly do not want to take him..the gp is just across the street and I would wrap him up& I would wear a mask and gloves. But what about when we get inside the gp. I'm meant to strip his legs down for the jabs...symptoms take 7 days to show. What if the doctor has the virus and doesn't yet know and is breathing over my baby. If he was to get sick I would NOT take him to the hospital. For them to separate us & tell me I cannot see him?? No way I would keep him home and give him calpol before I let them separate me from my baby. I feel like it's a big risk taking my son out to the doctors surgery to get immunisations. I know it's important..to protect baby from other viruses..flu etc. My 16 month old has had all of his jabs. I haven't left my house in 2 weeks..and my partner hasn't been at work either for the past week although he is a key worker.we have been completely self isolating for the sake of our kids. Am I being unreasonable to think I shouldn't take my son for his jabs? Am I being stupid ? I feel like it is a VERY big risk and wouldn't forgive myself god forbid my baby got sick afterwards

There is some evidence to suggest one of the vaccines given from this time is the reason why babies don’t get CV as badly as adults do.

OP my 4 month old is due his 16 week jabs next week. He has a lung condition and spent a week in intensive care when he was 4 weeks old. I will still be taking him for his jabs despite his pre existing condition. The virus isn't hitting children as hard. I dont think there has been a death in a child under 10? Even if he caught it it's very unlikely he would even be that sick.

Please please please if your baby did come sick to the point of needing treatment, take him to hospital. My boy wouldn't be here if I stayed at home. You won't be separated from him.

GrumpyHoonMain Wed 01-Apr-20 12:22:43
There is some evidence to suggest one of the vaccines given from this time is the reason why babies don’t get CV as badly as adults do.
......
That's interesting.

I think if it is possible to have the vacs without bumping into other people then go for it. The op said her GP surgery was just opposite her. On the other hand if they aren't going out and are being careful with deliveries, etc, the baby isn't going to come into contact with infections anyway so could wait.

Princesabs - if it helps any, I was Googling about 8 week jabs because I've just rung to delay mine by a month.

My husband has severe, but well-controlled, asthma and I have a currently undiagnosed autoimmune disease. Either of us could become very sick, although we believe that - because my immune system is overactive - I could be at less risk than other people my age.

As such, husband and I haven't been outside for three weeks except to walk the dog at dawn and dusk. My three-year-old son has only been in the back garden as we can't ensure his hand hygiene outside the house.

I got a callback from a nurse who read a script saying the vaccines were advisable, and didn't seem to understand why I couldn't take him to the appointment as my husband isn't on the shielding list. My husband checked which jabs my baby would be receiving and, with the exception of rotavirus, all of them are either currently rare in the UK, less infectious than Coronavirus (so my 8-week-old should be protected by self-isolating) or very unlikely for a baby to catch (e.g. tetanus from soil).

We therefore decided that the risk of my son contracting one of these diseases during a delay was lower than the risk of getting Coronavirus in the surgery. Also, we felt the risk of my baby getting a fever due to the meningitis jab, causing a general coronavirus panic/confusion/problem, was too high. We already have this problem as I have recurrent low-grade fevers and run high spiking fevers (103 degrees F) with temporarily blocked milk ducts.

I have rebooked the jabs for the beginning of May by which time we should know if the UK lockdown is working. Hopefully, if we follow Italy, Spain and France, case numbers should be noticeably falling by that time, which should tip the balance towards getting the jabs done.

Please bear in mind that asking someone if they have Coronavirus symptoms or taking their temperature is NOT a way to exclude the risk that they can spread Coronavirus to other people in a public place. People appear to be infectious for several days before experiencing symptoms, and those symptoms are not necessarily the characteristic cough or fever. I was told that the GP surgery would be 'pretty empty' and they'd be 'doing a check beforehand', which didn't reassure me at all.

P.S. You shouldn't worry about your baby getting the disease. Children and babies seem to be largely immune to severe complications from COVID-19.

The risk is to you and to anyone at risk in your household.

You should take him. 8 weeks includes the rotavirus protection which can be really bad for babies. He's probably less at risk from corona than from all the other things he gets vaccinated for.

You really, really don't want your baby getting meningococcal disease at this time (you never do, tbf, but especially not right now). And whooping cough and pneumococcal disease presumably don't mix well with coronavirus. Get the vaccinations done.

If lots of people are delaying vaccinations this is a big worry. It puts the whole schedule out, delaying protection against other things (such as measles) further.

I believe around 10% of us carry the bacteria that cause meningococcal disease in our throats at any one time. Only rarely do they become invasive. So it's not necessarily something you 'catch' in that way and not something staying at home will protect you from. But it's horrifically dangerous, esp for babies.

FWIW (last post, sorry) my teen son will be going for a DTP booster tomorrow. And he's arguably at higher risk from coronavirus (going by death rates, anyway) than a baby.

People are only concerned OP that you said you wouldn't seek medical help for a sick child.
Nobody wants to be separated from their child but the statement you made wasn't rational.
Your response makes me think you are stressing yourself more then you need to and this could impact on your mental health. There is nothing wrong with this.
Not seeking help for a sick child is an issue.
My suggestion would be to remove yourself from social media until this is over and to avoid reading anything on line. It will help you massively in the current circumstances.
I 100% understand why you are so scared. I'm due my second in 5 weeks and our hormones are terrible but your mental health is just as important as your physical health.
Don't take people being concerned to heart, they were genuinely kind posts from people who just wanted to make sure you are ok.

@strawberry2017 I think the OP had been reading the stories about birthing mothers with COVID-19 being separated from their newborns for 14 days as a precaution. So not a mental health issue, but a mix-up, and one which apparently has led some expectant mums with COVID-19 symptoms to research free-birthing.

Personally, going by what we know so far about COVID-19 and the age profile of the patients with severe complications, I'd just BF and expose the baby... but this is irrelevant to the discussion at hand.

It is counterintuitive that babies/young kids don't seem to be badly affected. So the fear and the mix-up are both understandable.