MMR - Did/Didn't you give it to your baby?

[cheeseypeas]

My DS is about due for his MMR and I'm still really concerned about it and at the moment don't want him to have it (until he's older at least). Things like the autism rates going up so much since it was introduced, allot of regressive autism cases happening about the time of the jab, Tony Blair not giving it to his kid etc that are the causing for concern for me. Also, have read things written by people who believe their babies have been damaged by it and that sticks in my head. I know that the people that started the scare had ulterior motives etc.

Would be really interested to know of other mums reasoning for having it/not having it and any advice if possible. Thanks.

ds is 11 months and they have it at 12 months over here. I really can't decide what to do for the best. ds seems perfectly healthy, no gut problems etc. and hardly reacted at all to the 6 in 1 or to the Prevenar, but I have had isolated mild outbreaks of psoriasis and IBS before (both in the same year, following a stressful situation, some years ago now). FWIW I do believe that MMR is safe for most children, but also that there is a small risk of serious damage for vulnerable individuals. My paed says singles are not available over here, not even privately. I'm really not looking forward to making this horrible decision :(
For the most part I am pro-vax, but if I do decide that the risk is too great, I will not vaccinate and not let anyone refer to me as irresponsible.

Sorry Socci I disagree

ds is 18mo and hasn't had the MMR (yet).

DP has type 1 diabetes (an autoimmune disease) and my aunt and my grandmother (her mother) have/had crippling rheumatoid arthritis (also an autoimmune disease), and although I went along with the 5 in 1 injections and ds didn't have an adverse reaction, I can't yet feel confident about him having the MMR.

I'm also not especially convinced that sepvax is safer in this context than MMR.

incidentally, DP's cousin's little dd has rheumatoid arthritis and her parents believe this is linked to her having the MMR. Now this obviously isn't any kind of proof, but it is certainly enough to make me even more hesistant about MMR .

ok Wembley that's fine - but can you qualify your opinion? I would be interested to see evidence that measles is often fatal.

Difficult to get precise info on that straight away here at home but closed piece of info I can get right now is that the WHO estimates that 2.7 people would die of a measles realted illness worldwide if we stopped vaccinating. Now I realise that this is an estimate and not fact (as obviously it hasn't happened) and also it takes into account the developing countries where you could expect a much higher death rate but it scares me.

These days the authorities also seem keen to have us believe that mumps is also a serious illness when it is usually mild. Will we be told the same thing about chicken pox?

I am not trying to underplay the fact that people have had seroius reactions to measles and have even died, but these are usually people who are already ill like the poor boy who died recently. I dislike the way the government thinks it is ok to put out misinformation and distort the facts so that people are frightened into doing as they are told.

it is really strange tbh - I had measles as a kid and at that time (early 80s) people treated it as just another childhood illness that everyone had.

Otoh, my mum caught it aged 6 and had to start wearing glasses because it had damaged her sight .

Despite having been a disgustingly healthy child, I am partially deaf because of measles. I also had a blood disorder caused by rubella, and an old friend of mine is almost blind and has physical deformities because his mother had rubella when she was pregnant. That was enough for me to want my dd to have the MMR, as I felt the risk of the jab was outweighed by the risk of the wild illnesses.

As it happens dd still caught measles.

In some countries the risk factors would be different from here but it has never been the case that many people die from measles in this country (in recent times anyway). It is possible to die from flu or even a cold if you are ill enough already but it doesn't happen frequently.

This is such a highly emotive subject and clearly some of us have very strong opinions - on both sides. I personally do not feel that I have been "frightened into doing what I am told" I believe that my DH and I have chosen what we consider the safest option for our children, there was never any doubt. Thankfully we are both medically qualified and feel confident enough to have interpreted the research and found the course of action that we belive to be right but I also feel that now is the time to bow out of this discussion (for now) and go and have a glass of wine!!

lockets, I think there are roughly 50 deaths per year in the US from measles. I have no idea how that breaks down into immune deficiency and so on, but I wouldn't describe it as a negligible risk personally. There's generally a death rate of about 2 per 1000 cases in developed countries. And yes Socci, I would gladly have immunised dd against chickenpox rather than see her hospitalised with encephalitis.

actually socci my two dnieces ended up in hospital with chickenpox, one in intensive care
the seriousness depends on the person who catches it, clearly

Nearly everyone I know has had chicken pox and not one has had encephalitis as a result afaik. I had it quite badly as a teenager with no lasting effects.

Yes HC - that is terrible of course, but the same goes for vaccination - ie that some people are affected in ways that others are not. That's my point.

You may not know anyone, but that's hardly a convincing argument is it? Same as if I said I don't know anyone with autism caused by MMR. That would be equally irrelevant and offensive.

oh and I had one relative who died from measles and a cousin who had serious disabilities because her mother caught german measles when she was pregnant
if we're talking anecdotally

Were your nieces otherwise healthy?

but I don't think it is helpful to dismiss these illnesses as not serious either, socci, when they can be
it doesn't help the argument at all imho

how would that make a difference?
is it ok for someone to suffer serious consequences as a result of catching something if they aren't healthy or suffer disabilities?
(genuine question btw)

No, quite, hc.

No it's not and of course it's anecdotal. There is no reason to be so aggressive. The point I am trying to make is that the government is very inconsistent with its recommendations - measles and mumps etc are always potentially fatal but the same things are not said about chicken pox. Tamum - where is the evidence that chicken pox is as risky as you suggest and how would you balance that against the risk/benefit of a vaccine?

It all comes down to whether you are prepared to live with the risks of a disease or the risks of a vaccine and it is up to the individual to decide. But the risks are all too often misrepresented - that's what I have a problem with.