Is anyone else waiting for single mumps jab?

[cockneysparrow1977]

hi there
I posted a message the other day about the single mumps vaccine only had one response it's been pretty quiet on here lately!
Just wondered if there is anyone else waiting for the single mumps jab? We went down the road of single jabs we've had measles and rubella but we've been waiting 2 years for the mumps vaccine. A clinic in London have said they ate expecting supplies in December although I'm
Not sure I'm feeling confident about it they are taking peoples money up front it's already been moved from July! The private clinic we started the singles with informed me the longer the mumps vaccine is unavailable the likely hood is it will never be! He is a gp and has said that he feels confident in the mmr and that his advice would be to go for the mmr if mumps is still not available he says he has given it to all 3 of his children it's hard isn't it as I'm sure that doctors etc wouldn't give it to their children if it wasn't safe but it makes you feel uneasy when there has been so much negative press about the mmr and autism! I'm also paranoid about my daughter getting mumps as my gp told me that whilst training in peadetrics she see a case of a toddler that ended in cerebal palesy! I'm delaying my daughter starting preschool until jan on the premise this mumps jab comes up as I'm worried about her catching it! Anyone else started with singles and then opted for mmr for the same reason???
S xxx

Have you decided for certain that she needs a Mumps jab?

Well she has not been immunised at all against mumps so I would like her to be protected

It depends how you feel about giving the MMR now your little one is a bit older. I suspect the longer time goes on, the less likely it is the Mumps vaccine will be around.
The MMR can still be given ( if you want this) as if the measles and rubella vaccines have been effective then only the mumps component of the MMR will be recognised by the immune system as "a risk to the body". The measles and rubella antibodies are already in place.
Lots of people in the same boat as you it seems.

We are booked in with the Children's Immunisation Centre for single mumps in February. I have 3 children needing the vaccine. The lady on the phone said they had confirmation the vaccine would definitely be with them then. I am not holding my breath though, as it seems a bit too good to be true, and strange that they claim to be the only clinic in the UK who will have this vaccine. It's the best shot I have at the moment though, so keeping my fingers crossed for February.

Loobyfly: same here I'm booked in with them too why I feel unsure is I was booked in July then oct then dec and I called the other day to check if we were still on track for dec and she said it's been
Moved again to feb, I feel the same not overly confident about it given the dates keep getting moved! Were you booked in for dec too and rescheduled? I've paid to have you?
Are your 3 waiting mumps for boosters or haven't received any mumps at all?
My daughter at the moment has no mumps at all, she's starting preschool in jan and ideally I would have liked her fully immunised by then are your at a
School?
If it doesnt come off do you think you'll opt for mmr?
The private gp I had my daughter vaccinated with measles and rubella has told me that at Pre school booster age he would advise to go
With the mmr as he doesn't think mmr and autism are linked and has said that he has given it to his kids the mmr that is! It's a tough choice I'm worried about mumps as my gp told me that she had seen a child left with cerebal palsy through contracting mumps while she was studying paediatrics I trust her too? I didn't really want to go with mmr but then I don't want my little one catching mumps! Most of my friends with little ones have gone with the mmr but I'm pretty stressed about the whole situ my hubby doesn't want to keep delaying preschool and he doesn't share. My concerns

I know Wikipedia isn't a great source for such things, but the risk of the most serious complication is less than 2 in 100,000 cases so your paediatrician friend is extremely unlucky to have seen what s/he did. There haven't been that many cases of mumps so the risk is absolutely miniscule.

I have decided that the risk of the illness is less than the risks associated with the jab (which isn't autism, but things such as anaphylaxis and fever induced encephalitis) so I am not bothered about my daughter having the single mumps vaccine. She has had the single measles vaccine, and when she is older she will have the choice of having the rubella vaccine.

Cockneysparrow: I have not been rescheduled from an earlier date, I only called the CIC for the first time yesterday after seeing their website. I had single measles and rubella done with Direct Health 2000 for my older two children. One of them got a first mumps jab but not the booster. The other child has had no mumps injections at all. Direct Health 2000 went bust just as I had my third baby, so she has had single measles and rubella with SurreyGP. My 2 eldest are at primary school and the baby is starting pre school late next year. If the CIC mumps vaccine does not appear, then I will probably leave my 2 girls unvaccinated against mumps and consider giving my son MMR when he is about 10. It's been very worrying ever since the mumps vaccine became unavailable. My husband considers MMR to be pretty safe and thinks we have spent hundreds of pounds for no reason. Plus he is worried about our son being left with fertility problems if he contracts mumps. But I have read a lot of Mumsnet posts from parents whose children suffered health problems after having MMR and that has made me worry. I have also read stuff on the JABS charity website and some scaremongering Daily Mail articles! Sometimes it is hard being a parent and trying to work out the best thing to do for your children.

You can reassure your husband that according to the HPA there is no firm evidence that mumps causes infertility.

just the strange co-incidence that boys with bilateral mumps orchitis find themselves sterile....

testicular abnormalities after mumps orchitis
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16336344

fertile man - had mumps - now is infertile
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22075618

mumps orchitis quadruples the risk of infertility
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15546021

mumps makes testicles shrink
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12402766

mumps makes testicles shrink
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14597247

men often subfertile after mumps even without clinical orchitis
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8692089

mumps as one major infectious cause of infertility
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16493211

That last link in the list gave 5.23% as caused by Mumps. Is that considered to be "major"? I'm not a scientist, remember, so please do bear with me.
Perhaps 5% is considered significant?

I've been waiting for 6 years.

Going to get an MMR booked. DD is 10 so past worrying about it all from an autism point of view.

I guess so Catherina - HPA on mumps

"Despite common belief there is no firm evidence that orchitis causes sterility"

Also worth noting that orchitis is usually only a possible complication in post-pubescent males so having mumps as a child is not putting you at risk of sterility even if mumps was taken as a risk factor. IIRC something like 20% of adult males with mumps may have orchitis and of those cases something like 10% of those cases are bilateral so the risk of bilateral orchitis with mumps is quite small anyway. The fact that complications are more likely in adulthood is why many people choose to have their son's immunity tested before puberty and consider vaccinating then after giving them the chance to contract it as a child when it is usually mild and over 30% of cases are completely asymptomatic.

The fact that many decide not to vaccinate their sons against mumps until they hit puberty contributes to the survival of mumps in the population.

Apart from that, I read the HPA description and the complications described are nothing I want to risk (nice to know, for example, that the 1 in 25 cases of profound deafness are "usually transient" - roll eyes).

Tabitha - one of the major infectious causes

My gp told me not to get dd vaccinated until she was about ten. He said ideally she would catch mumps prior to this and then get lifetime immunity. So try to get it before adolescence. He said the vaccine only protects for about ten to fifteen years, not sure how true this is. So he said there's a danger of vaccinating young and then becoming susceptible again when a teenager, young adult.

Why are you rolling your eyes Catherina? I think permanent deafness is listed as a very rare complication on the NHS website - 1 in 30,000 iirc.

Viva, yes, I think that is why there are now so many outbreaks of mumps in universities etc which isnt great considering that the risks of complications are much higher in adults! I think the mumps component of the vaccine has had to be 'tweaked' quite a few times and iirc it's the least effective component.

1 in 650 to 1 in 1000 according to two Japanese studies.

A colleague just had mumps for the second time. Mumps may be similar to pertussis, needing some boosting for lasting immunity...

Looby: yes it is worrying knowing the best choice to make for your children! It's difficult as you say reading the Negative press etc about the mmr, my sister is a journalist and she says never to believe anything you read in the dailymail maybe they dont have a credible reputation in the media!
I guess what I don't understand is the singles jabs are the same vaccines as what's used in the mmr so how can it be any different??? I guess that's what friends have questioned that have gone down the mmr route! God knows it's a mindfield!
My dh is of the same opinion as your dh doesn't share my concerns!
If the single mumps doesn't come off doesn't look like there is much choice if we want to be covered for all diseases :((((

Yet you still think that it's parents choosing not to vaccinate their children when they're young that are keeping mumps in the population

Just checked the NHS website and I stand corrected - risk of permanent deafness is given as 1 in 15000.

cockney - maybe there's a difference when you space them out compared to giving 3 live vaccines in one go. I think the MMR was the first vaccine to do that.

Misread your title - thought you were talking about a single mums jab.

I wondered what on earth one of those did!

Just called Children's Immunisation Centre - mumps vaccine not available, and receptionist can't confirm when it will be.

Flipping heck - what a mess. I don't think there will be any mumpvax singles for the time being or ever until government policy changes. My DS is now 12 and has had all singles x2, except the final mumps. I'll consider blood tests but seem to recall that you would still have to check annually - can anyone pls shed some light on this. If it's not a one off blood test, then I think I may have to go down the MMR route - hoping that at his age, risks of the MMR will be minimal.

with regards to rubella and measles, the blood test is a one off, definitely not every year - there is some indication that the mumps immunity may wane, but if was immune to mumps after 1 MMR, that would probably last him for into his early 20ies and any further blood draw would be his business...