Very Very anxious about mmr

[ariane5]

My 3 dcs (10,5 and 2) have had all their jabs except mmr. When dd1 was little I made the decision not to have it done as read so much about it that scared me and I couldn't bear to give her something that could potentially make her ill.

I know that the mmr is now supposedly safe and the doctor who caused the initial worry struck off but I cannot get out of my head what I read.My new gp has been on and on at me for a good 18months to get dcs vaccinated with mmr and I have cancelled numerous appts-now EVERYTIME I go to gp they spend at least 15 minutes asking me to have mmr-they even said last week that any one of measles/mumps/rubella could be fatal to my children and were quite aggressive in getting this point across-not the best idea as Iam 7 months pg, terribly hormonal and worried about the jab anyway without feeling like my children could be struck down at any time and be seriously ill-it doesn't help me make a decision when they are being so pushy.

ds and dd2 have severe egg allergy too but they have said they would be fine to have it done at gp surgery and would not have a reaction.

I feel torn-if i do it I will be terrified and not sleep for a good 3 weeks untill all3 components of the jab have worked in case of a severe reaction and if i don't I will be panicking that they will catch measles/mumps/rubella.

All 3 have other health issues-a genetic disorder affecting connective tissue(eds) dd1 has a chest prob(pectus excavatum) causing reduced lung capacity and ds and dd2 severe allergies and a resulting poor diet.All 3 catch EVERYTHING going and are unwell a great deal and the gp has mentioned that their immune systems are not great and measles etc could be very bad for them.

I have tried everything to come to a decision but the more I read the more confused and upset Iam not knowing what to do and I feel so pushed by the gp and every dr i see at the surgery.

I really do not know what to do.

It will be expensive, but it's worthy of consideration.

Measles and rubella cost us about £200 EACH.

As I (keep ) saying though it won't help with mumps as you just can't get that singly anymore. So maybe you could go MMR for DS, and singles for your girls.

I booked a consultancy appointment with our nurse before opting for MMR. If she thought I was nuts for my reasons for not having MMR, she had the professional courtesy to listen and reassure me.

Who vaccinates for chicken pox?

the mumps outbreaks? erm, been happening for years.

amongst students who would have been part of the initial mmr campaign - intro'd in 1989, after all.

but the mumps component is pretty shite, tbh. again, I'd be checking immunity if I had teenagers who had had the mmr.

people do vaccinate for chicken pox - it is available in the UK, albeit privately.

(gets used to being invisible...)

Maxy.... I was illustrating how scary measles is and thought WHO was a reliable source.

"or just believe the hype that the docs peddle"

Why do people think that doctors are keen to "peddle" rubbishy things which will make people ill?

My parents are doctors, they joined the profession to help people. They did not join the profession because they were horrible people who wanted to act like snake oil salesmen and "peddle" things which would make people ill. Why do people think that? Why on earth do people think they are motivated by these strange dark desires to destroy people and ruin the health of the population? It doesn't make sense to me and the idea that my retired parents were part of a conspiracy to harm the population of the UK is a bit upsetting.

I used to be anti MMR. I was terrified of choosing to give my DD a vaccine which could bring about a whole heap of problems. To be honest my fear grew from Mums and Tots group conversations. I remember reading about Wakefield's research many years ago but at the time had no intention of having children soon so didn't give it too much attention. But socialising with other Mums the subject would often pop up and people showed such emotion with their opinions. I think i was scaremongered into not vaccinating.

When DD was 18 months we moved abroad. I was told there was a measles outbreak where we would be moving to. I mentioned DD didn't have the first MMR jab, let alone the second. The look of horror on the face of the relocation agent's face was shocking. She advised my DD and i stayed in the
UK rather than risk my DD's life just to live close to Daddy. I made a quick decision and rushed into getting DD the first MMR vaccine. All was ok. A few months after arrival we visited DD's Dr for the first time. The look on her face when i mentioned DD had had the first MMR jab but not the second one was again shocking. She immediately administered the second MMR jab, by which point DD was just 2years old. All ok after second MMR jab.

A few months later we were at a childrens party in our new home country. A new English mum turned up with her three DCs. She asked about the measles outbreak she had been warned about and mentioned that non of her three DCs had been vaccinated against MMR. Within about 5 minutes she and her DCs were removed from the childrens party. The other mums, a mix of British, American and European Mothers were (to put it mildly) utterly disgusted that someone would dare risk the lives of other peoples children as well as their own and not vaccinate with MMR jab.

Not many vaccinate for CP....but measles can be fatal.

No one is laughing about CP SQ - just pointing out that it is a disease that can also be risky for immunocompromised people and yet people who argue for vaccinating against mumps and rubella purely to protect others wouldn't pay to vaccinate against CP. Also interesting how the perception of diseases is differnt in countries such as the US where the vaccine is give routine- ie there's a vaccine so it MUST be really dangerous.

DialM - I'm to sure I agree with yr argument. Of course people who live in developing countries will be more worried about those diseases -they are more dangerous there for a number of reasons. They also have diseases in those countries that we don't even think about and something as simple as diarrhoea can be very very dangerous.

SQ - the mmr is not as effective as the hype about it. fact.

measles among the vaccinated population has increased, as has mumps.

it was supposed to be 'one jab for life'. then two. now they are talking about introducing a third (presumably to cover the mumps shortfall at the least)

yet, try to talk to a standard, mainstream gp about it and what will you get? the standard talk, lots of info about how Wakefield was struck off, and the patient information leaflet.

docs don't even swab (for the most part) children who present with /mealses like virus' - why are they not interested in finding out whether it is measles?

why just the party line?

why can't you ever have a proper discussion about concerns, without it reverting to the LAncet 1998 paper (which a lot of concerns are not about)

Nah.... Leonie you should put that argument on it's head, the more people believe the crap that Wakefield spouted the worse it is for everyone.

POsie, out of interest, what crap did Wakefield spout?

"Measles is a serious disease. It can cause pneumonia and inflammation of the brain. It can also kill. About 10% of people with measles in this country require hospital admission, fatality rates of one per 5,000 are still seen in the UK, and recent epidemics in industrialised countries have had even higher rates"

That's more serious than CP surely? 1 in 10 people who get chicken pox don't require hospitalisation.

They swab here if children have suspicious symptoms. My friends child was swabbed when he has an unidentified illness. It wasn't measles thankfully.

ShaysLou, again, how exactly we're those children at risk if they had been vaccinated.

Posie, do you think the vaccine itself does not protect your children? What do ynthink herd immunity is and how do you think it comes about?

Yes, the WHO is a good source of info - but it helps to give the quotes in context and not just quote the shocking parts and leave out other relevant parts such as where it is most risky and what the risk factors actually are.

OP, please go and find a GP that will sit down and talk with you through your specific concerns and go through the data with you.

Leaving emotion out of it, the risk of a reaction to the jab is absolutely minute compared to the risks from these diseases.

If I bring emotion into it I just get cross. My DD2 had measles aged 7 months, presumably becuase we lived in an area where there was a low uptake of the vaccine because of fears and believing nonsense.

When working in paediatrics I have seen a couple of children with serious complications from measles. It is not nice.

there was a HDU (I think) nurse who posted on a mmr thread once - she admitted that her unit did not even collect data as to whether the children they saw (hundreds each year, according to her ) admitted with measles complications had had mmr or not.

even with serious complications, the data is not gathered as standard - why? do they not want to know that measles may be in the rise amongst a vaccinated population?

I think there has also been evidence that the measles strain is mutating. so the mmr is not as effective against it.

but carry on blaming the unvaccinated minority for all ills. 'twas ever thus.

Op, you said

You don't want your kids to get sick
You could afford single vaccines
Your dh wants the dcs vaccinated
You are worried about the combined mmr, but not singles.

Why not just get the singles done?

My dd had the mmr, there was a measles outbreak and she got it very mildly. It was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Others weren't so lucky who weren't vaccinated. I won't scare you.

What I never get from these threads is a real idea of what the people who are against MMR actually want. The responses range from:

1. Single vacs for all 3
2. Single vac for measles only
3. No vaccinations for these diseases at all and let nature take its course as they aren't that bad and immunity through catching something is better than from a vaccine
4. Go further and remove other things from the vaccination program
5. Big pharma is evil, vaccinations are lies, get rid of all of them, treat people who get ill instead

These are all views I have seen espoused on these threads and I think that the
"anti" argument is pretty hopeless when the people who are anti have such a diverse range of views about what they actually want and disagree with each other.

If we got rid of MMR and went for single measles only, there would still be people who were unhappy wouldn't get it done, and they would be arguing these same points on the boards.

Personally I disagree that the medical profession are in cahoots with the vaccine manufacturers, in an attempt to ruin the health and lives of the population of the UK.

And on that note I'll leave the thread as vaccination threads do something very nasty to my blood pressure.