MMR!

[youngmummy17]

DS is 18 months, his due his last set of injections, i've been putting them off since his 1st birthday!, it's his first MMR jab and i'm concerned i always hear stuff about it and i just have a bad gut feeling, what was other peoples experiences when ds/dd's had their MMR jabs?

I would not blame the boy for a second. He just had a "fever" at the time and the doctor no "well baby" waiting room (which he has now, but didn't at the time, according to Micha's uncle). It is the ultra-rare, mega-catastrophe, not representative of the "typical" or average risk. I agree.

Don't have any numbers from the HPA yet. No deaths according to their last press release (statistically it would need 3x as many cases for one). SSPE would not manifest for another 7 years (on average) anyway.

Most children have no reaction to the MMR I believe, my eldest 2 didn't, my youngest had his MMR a couple of weeks ago and has had an awful reaction, rash, fever, unsettled.

Surely if we vaccinate all teenage girls against German Measles (if not already immune) then, when they are pregnant, they will be immune and CRS won't be an issue for the baby?
Catherina, was that your blog where you called unvaccinated children potential murder weapons a while back?

Tabitha - the vaccinate all girls policy has been trialled and tested in several countries and failed miserably - ie there were still dozens of babies with CRS born.

Why did it fail? Was the vaccine just not up to the job?

The vaccine does a great job when everyone gets it. In countries where only the women get it (like Japan for example), women contract rubella from sons and husbands. Not nice. Avoidable. 2x MMR - it works :)

Got some numbers from the friendly HPA: 311 measles cases in Merseyside now. 299 unvaccinated, 12 "recall" vaccination. I am going to call the friendly HPA person tomorrow and clarify what that means and then post the details.

Surely, if the women in Japan have their German Measles jab, they will be immune so it matters not if their sons or husbands get the disease?
What was the case in the UK before the MMR was introduced? I've been looking for stats. Someone on here must know a website with the numbers.
What's the case now given that a lot of parents won't give their children the MMR?
So many questions and so late in the day. Goodnight for now.

Catherina, those figures don't tally with early figures that were given. Is that completely unvaccinated or partially as well?

Also, as Tab said, I'm not seeing the logic with the rubella jab being effective when everyone gets it but not when the people who need it just get it. Either it works in preventing people from catching rubella or it doesn't.

I have the Merseyside numbers now, had a lovely chat with the doctor from the HPA: as per yesterday morning 326 laboratory confirmed cases (18% hospitalisation rate amongst them overall), 12 fully vaccinated (although only confirmed for 10, so about 4% of total), 57 vaccinated 1x (so about 17.5%, which may have to do with the fact that vaccination coverage in Merseyside overall is quite high, especially for the first shot), about an additional 170 cases that have the clinical characteristics of measles, but are not yet laboratory confirmed. Overall, transmission is going down. Will write up in more detail over the weekend and pass by HPA for accuracy before posting, probably Tuesday (by which time there'll be 20 or so confirmed cases, I guess).

From BCG thread - this just seems a more appropriate thread for the discussion!

CatherinaJTV Sat 23-Jun-12 12:06:38
Breastfeeding does squat for measles immunity beyond the first couple of weeks. In prevaccine US, an underreported 80 infants died annually of measles. The cost for a couple of months more protective titer is MUCH too high.

bumbleymummy Sat 23-Jun-12 12:26:54
Catherina, tragic as it is that 80 babies died, that is still quite a small proportion of the cases in total. Proportionally, there are more cases in babies now. Also, bf does do something for immunity.

Although breastfeeding might not stop a baby catching a virus, is it not meant to help the baby to fight it? Isn't that one of the advantages of breastfeeding over formula - the antibodies that help in the fight against disease?
Apparently, mother can produce antibodies for baby even if she isn't suffering from the disease that the baby is........ How that works is beyond me.

I delayed the mmr because I kept being too busy at work. now I've learnt there has been a measles case at nursery, and I feel incredibly guilty that my children have been exposed, unvaccinated, to a potentially deadly disease. you have to weigh up the risks as you see them. I MMR'd my dts today, but wish we had done it earlier. this will be too late to give them any protection if they are already infected.

Mama, try not to worry. Measles is a greater risk to malnourished children(particularly those with vitamin A deficiency) and those who are immunocompromised. If your twins dd catch it, chances are they would make a full recovery.

We went down the single vaccines route with DD, it's always an option to anyone with concerns about the mmr but obviously doesn't want to risk measles.