Sorry this old apple, mmr or no mmr - got to make a decision! DS booked in next Tuesday, what do you all think?

[mohawk]

DS is two, I've held off this long for the mmr, I want to do something, either singles or mmr. Doing singles is £80 each and a long drive after the mmr - anyone done singles in West Yorkshire, Manchester area?? Or should I just go for the mmr, all the present research does discount the Wakefield report but still what price will drug companies go to, to protect their products. Help!

[Davros]

As I said before though, the Govt's statistics on MMR take-up is incorrect as its not taking into account children, like my DD, who will be fully imunised by the age of 3.5 but done in singles. Some children who have the MMR at the suggested age do not have any better immunity than DD as it isn't 100% effective for all of them, hence the booster.
I do worry about measles particularly and the affect on other children/people which is why we are doing singles, the most responsible choice for US imo.

[bakabat]

well the risk benefit ratio will change. After 3 a child's very unlikely to regress into autism (although has been recorded)- whether they would develop something else is another question.

After puberty the risk from measles infection is much higher.

anthroposophical doctors recommend aimimg to catch measles pre 9, but if you haven't caught it by then, then they say its worth vaccinating.

[bakabat]

Most children do have something. Very few are unimmunised at all - I suspect the required 95% have had either singles or MMR. That's why the govt stats are a nonsense. Most outbreaks are in vaccinated children btw.

[startingtobehalloweenylover]

ahh, i see... but there is still a risk of "something" developing....

gosh it is such a hard decision to make

[startingtobehalloweenylover]

bakabat... if you were in my position with your firstborn coming up for mmr age, and knowing what you do about mmr would you have him vaccinated?

[bakabat]

tbh I worry a lot less about MMR than thimerosal. I don't know your family history, but unless there were other factors I would probably go for well spaced singles. (They're as effective as MMR- they're the same strains- just take away the risk of any interactions).

I may well give my children single measles if they don't get it before about age 9. Half of them have had rubella

[startingtobehalloweenylover]

do they still have thimerosol in jabs? tbh ds was fine with all of his previous jabs...

i don't think there are any worrying factors in family history... what kind of things should i be looking for???

think we will probably go for singles

[Mojomummy]

My Dd is 28 mths & hasn't had the MMR yet. I breast fed her until she was 2 & I had measles when I was young so am hoping she has some immunity passed on from me.

My reason for letting her have MMR are not convinced it's safe ( no smoke without fire), I have virtiligo, which is an automimmune problem & she does suffer from a sluggish bowel ( having medicine which is helping).

She eats 90% organic food 4 days out of 7 & I like to think she has a good immune system as she is rarely ill - in fact, so far I don't think she's been ill at all bar a few colds & a mild dose of chickenpox.

It's good to see the MMR threads pop up because it gives you chance to reconsider your decisions. Will read spidermama's links later. Have read the Informed Parent a few times in the past. So far nothing is convincing me to get the jabs - always open to reasons of course

[bakabat]

Thimerosal was removed from the baby jabs at the end of last year (and may have played a contributary factor in childen who regressed following MMR- even though MMR had no thimerosal). It's still in some jabs though eg some flu jabs so always worth asking to check the listed ingredients. Autoimmunity is a risk factor, alomg with gut problems.

[foundintranslation]

small hijack
I've had 2-3 brief attacks of IBS (last one years ago) and had something psiorasis-like for a while. Both were felt to stem from stress, occurred in the same year and haven't recurred. Would these be a reason for not giving ds the mmr?

[Caroline5]

My dd2 (who has learning disabilities) had the single jabs, but after the measles jab had several months of absence seizures- the first one happened on the night of the measles jab - definitely a link imo. She is due a booster now - would go for a single measles again but don't want to risk more seizures. Considering getting a blood test to test her immunity, although not sure where to get this.

[edam]

Tiportreatex, singles because I was concerned about MMR but didn't want to leave ds unvaccinated, which would mean he was at risk from measles etc. and could cause problems for other children.

There are some children who cannot be vaccinated so it's important to vaccinate if you can to reduce the risk that your healthy child will pass on disease to other, more vulnerable children. But I'd pussy footed around for nearly a year before getting round to it - it was an MN thread that made me pull my finger out.

[bakabat]

FIT- if worried would be worth chatting to someone medical and sympathetic to the issue. I would imagine most doctors would tell you to vaccinate in those circumstances, worth reading around more though.

Caroline5- I know other mnetters have had it done. I think some of the single jabs clinics might do it, not sure though. Perhaps try and archive search, I'm sure people have mentioned how to get it done on here.

[ladymuck]

Bakabat - is there anything to back up your assertions that over 95% of children are vacinated (MMR & singles combined). I know the rate is low in south London, but understood that this was less about MMR and more about the fact that second and subsequent children tend to get overlooked for vacinnations, especially in families where English is not the first or second language. Hence last year's policy of doing boosters in the schools.

Also many of those who have gone for singles had difficulty in getting hold of the mumps vaccine. None of ds1's contempories who went for single vaccines ever managed to get the full set.

[twik]

Sorry, haven't read the thread apart from your first post mohawk. I procrastinated about doing dd until she was 2 1/2 then met a mum with a child severely disabled from measles and went ahead. I also work for a medical research institute and genuinely now the risks from mmr are thought to be tiny.

[ruty]

buffy the harpshichord player i have an auto immune disorder. I also was hospitalized with measles as a child. You think i was being dismissive about measles, I'm sorry if thats how it came across. i am tired of people being dismissive about the possible damage MMR may be doing, which will not be researched because it is not in the government's or the pharmaceutical companys' or maybe even the majority of people's interests. But there are a few children who may suffer terrible damage as a result of this deliberate ignoral of the problem. I read terrible stories of what measles can do to people on threads like these all the time. So I don't think you need to readdress the balance.

[Socci]

Message withdrawn

[ruty]

it doesn't make any sense socci because no one knows how long vaccines last. Therefore a whole new generation of adults will grow up who as they haven't had natural diseases, will possibly develop diseases in later life. I doubt i am still immune to diptheria and pertussis, the vaccines i had as a child. I am a walking hazard to all those with weakened immune systems? Correct me if i'm wrong but i think a lot of the vaccine immunity shelf life is guess work.

Re Rubella why don;t they just vaccinate all girls when they hit puberty?

[ruty]

psychobabble they introduced thimerosol vaccines in Sep 04 so your babe should have had jabs without.

[Davros]

tiportreatex, I explained my reasons for choosing singles earlier in the thread. I also have an autoimmune disease but, where DS's autism is concerned, I think its a red herring as there are at least 2 (almost certainly 3) other people with ASD in my fairly immediate family, none with any autoimmune issues. But that's yet another situation to consider!! I actually wish that people who have no real issues in relation to immunisation would go ahead, combined or single, because then it makes it reasonable for the small number who do have issues not to vaccinate.