MMR Jabs

[Qd]

An osteopath told me last week she had heard there was a homeopathic alternative to the MMR, but didn't have any info. Does anyone know anything about it?

Janus - I am not offended. I think everyone needs to have their opinion on this topic and make an informed decision (which ever side you choose). I don't think there is a right or wrong. Do you know (I am not saying this to be alarmist at all) that your child could still have measles and even die from it ? MMR isn't 100% guarantee and there are children (but I can't remember where I read it) who have a far more serious form of measles because they have been vaccinated.
You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.

Oh GOD!! Tomorrow my baby is having her MMR and Iam worried sick. Would love to here some positive reassurance . What I shall expect tomorrow? Will she feel sick ETC.

Callie, ds had his MMR with no side effects other than abit grumpy for a day or two. I am glad we had it done but of course worried about anything given to my son. However, I would have been just as worried if he were to have the single vaccine. We all try and protect them the best we can but we never know whats waiting round the corner.

callie, I would say the same as Joe1. I fretted for ages about the jab, but felt in the end the right thing for us was for ds to have it (he was 13 months). He also was just a little grumpy, we gave him calpol at bedtime and he was fine.

Callie, I couldn't even take my son (now nearly 5) for his jab, I was so terrified. I didn't want to convey that fear to him so I sent dh. I sat at home (I'm cringing with embarrassment as I write this!) and WEPT for the entire 40 minutes they were out. Apparently, he barely even cried - just an outraged squawk! - which is his usual jab routine and had no visible reaction afterwards at all. (His only reaction to a jab was a slight temperature after one of the DTPs) My dd likewise showed very little reaction either. Bit more tired, and grumpy.
Like someone else here, I was waiting to get dd done and she'd been ill, so I kept delaying it. Then there was a measles scare at my son's nursery (you can get a mild form even if jabbed) and I panicked - had her round at the surgery next day! When the chips were down, my decision was immediate.
Of course they had to check her over twice to make sure she really was OK, she picked up on the vibes (and hates GPs anyway) so she wailed the place down. I had to be reassured by the GP and practice nurse; she was duly jabbed and after one final wail, sat up and all but 'said', 'Well, was that what all the fuss was about ...' sniffed at me, and began to explore the surgery quite happily. I felt a right fool!
Good luck and lots of deep breathing! Make sure you get all the info from your practice nurse/GP; take a treat for your baby AND a treat for you! Let us know how it goes.

Callie, we were worried too about giving our ds MMR when he was 14mths. He had no side effects and has had his booster. I have a friend who is a Paediatrician who has a son a few years older than ours for her advice at the time. She felt that the jab was safe given everything that she had read in the literature on it and she was speaking as a mother and friend rather than a doctor. (She had had her son immunised with MMR)I also felt that statistically I was putting my son at much greater risk everytime I strapped him in to the back of the car and went out!

Good comment Poopdeck - I think you are right, the chance of being injured (or worse) in a car accident must be higher than the risks involved in the MMR injection, yet how many of us really think about that? Just like people not flying because of the terrorist attacks yet statisically the liklihood of anything happening is very small. Reminds me of my teenage neice who drinks heavily,smokes, takes drugs & is promiscuous (won't go into details on this thread) - but is scared to go to London in case it is bombed!

Both my sons have had the MMR jab and have had no side effects. My eldest has just been diagnosed with aspergers syndrome(which is a form of autism)and now with all the current headlines everyone is asking was it because of 'that'jab but IMO he has always shown this behaviour since he was a baby.

jsmummy - do you mean no MMR or no measles vaccination? I'm 37 and I distinctly remember having my measles jab - after I'd had measles! I had mumps and rubella as well as a child. However, one child at my school who had measles went on to become brain damaged and one older woman I know is completely deaf in one ear due to childhood measles.

As already said, it's not a mild disease in susceptible children. Like the first bloke on the programme last night, I would be so pissed off if my child caught it because others had chosen not to have their child vaccinated. I'm not saying their choice is wrong, but I'd certainly be pissed off.

None of my children have been vaccinated against whooping cough, due to a family history of fits. My older DD had two MMR's and my younger has had one. But then the concerns were aired and we decided not to have the booster for her. (And they wanted to vaccinate for another six diseases on the same day, too!!!!)

There are so many issues which this govt won't answer. Is the vaccine even effective? All these childhood diseases were on the wane both in number and severity before vaccines were introuduced. The herd immunity argument takes a battering when you learn that measles has broken out in an American school with 99% uptake of MMR. The US is frequently cited as having high MMR levels but they don't tell you that the US govt has also paid $1billion to vaccine-damaged children, with 14% going to MMR victims. What about the children who have died of encephalitis due to MMR and why has an MMR type vaccine for cattle been withdrawn as unsafe? What about members of the safety committee also being linked with the vaccine mfgs? I dearly want to believe that vaccines are safe but until someone addresses these issues, I remain confused as to the truth.

BTW, not expecting Mumsnet to answer the questions, I'm just being rhetorical!!

Joe1 I know what you mean about being just as worried if it was the single vaccine.
Absolutly the worst thing about being a parent is when your child is ill. I just go to pieces when dd is sick. I constantly worry that she will get meningitis or something else terrible.
I have put of getting the mmr until know [21mths] because I can't bear the thought of it hurting her and her being ill afterwards.
I have looked int;o the single jabs and they are hard to find up north.
There just seems to be conflicting advice everywhere.
But this talk of an epidemic has got me really scared so tomorrow is the big day.
It is a really big decision for me and Iam still full of doubt but iam going to go for it.

Interesting point, Loobie, as the type of autism seen in vaccine-damaged children is a new variant, called late-onset autism. These children regress whereas 'classic' autism is marked by a failure to progress.

As to risks, well of course, we don't choose between the risk of a crash, or the risk of MMR, we're deciding whether to take an additional risk by adding the MMR onto the car crash scenario..

Just read the other messages and thanks to everyone!
Inkpen I feel exactly the same as you did. When the chips are down Iam rushing to the clinic.
But Iam now EXTREMELY worried. Someone please tell me whats this Sued has said about encaphilitis. Please tell me this can't be caused by the jab.
GOd I wish I did't know this. Can anyone reassure me on this one.

callie - just to let you know all 3 of mine have had the MMR (2 of them have also had the booster at age 3/4 yrs, the other one will have it when he's old enough) and they are all absolutely fine. Hope you soon come to a decision that you're happy with. Good Luck

Callie - my 4 year had MMR and the boster - she's fine! A bit of a fever and a few measles type spots about 10 days later but, otherwise, fine.

Callie, I really am sorry we are confusing you. It is important that you come to a decision that you are coomfortable with. Being hesitant isn't good for your child (either) as you will transmit your insecurities... that's another debate as to why we get sick which I am not really sure we want to get into...
Can I just suggest that you do read more on the topic ? Maybe it is too late... but don't think that all cases of measles are life threatening, they are not.

Our ds had his mmr at 13 months with no side effects. There was no question of his not having it. Although dh is a doctor I still researched the pros and cons extensively so that I felt satisfied personally that it was the right thing to do. Cons? I couldn't find any reasonable justification beyond the dangerous speculation of one man. It's not just our ds that I considered but also the welfare of the other children with whom he comes into contact and the expecant mothers that he may encounter as he grows up (not least me should we have another). The consequences of measles and/or rubella on a child and on others can be devastating. Not just dying but dying a long and lingering death with the complications of encephalitis; this is something of which I have personal experience and can't imagine the selfishness of leaving either my child or someone else's open to that kind of risk. I do think that there is a wider responsibilty than it being just an individual choice. One other thing as I remember, my sil worked with autistic children, some of whose parents thought that it was linked to the mmr. Sadly she says that on reviewing their case notes all the signs and symptoms were there long before but were not diagnosed until post mmr - it was just a convenient hook on which to blame an otherwise inexpicable condition. And of course there must always be someone to blame these days...

Callie, I wish there was some way to reassure you because I would like to be reassured myself. Sadly, all we can do is look at whatever knowledge we can accrue and make the decision we feel is best for ourselves and our child. Good luck.

So all of the people who decide not to have the MMR and cannot get the single vaccine, who are you goint to blame if you child becomes seriously ill with one of this dieseses (sp)? Will you blame yourself for not having any vaccines? Will you blame another person who didnt have the vaccines so enabling the disease to spread? Or will you still blame the Government for not making you feel good about getting it done in the first place?

I don't know if its related but I had the MMR when I was 15 years old and by the time i was 16 i had been diagnosed with Crohns disease. I had never experienced any problems like this before the MMR, added to this none of my doctors would rule out a link to the MMR. I now have a baby daughter and when the time comes I will be immunising her separately as I do not want risk having her suffer the way I have.

But peanut how do you know it wasnt just part of the vaccine and not that it was a triple and you could have had the same reaction to part of the singles?

I was meant to add but Im click happy, that it might not have been the jab then just coincedence (sp).

But Suedonim,, $1bn is a tiny amount of money in a country with a population upwards of 250 million, a 90%+ plus uptake of vaccinations and a litigious culutre where individual awards inevitably run into 7 figures. If 14% is going to MMR recipients, that would appear to suggest that it is no more dangerous thatn other vaccines. I thought everybody accepted that any vaccination can lead to potentially horriffic side effecdts (notably brain damage) but the odds are many millions to one. This is separate from the autism issue.

I'm hopeless at figures, Croppy so all I'm trying to say is that we are so often told that America has no problems with MMR when it patently does. If you look at the Jabs website or the Van website, there is a lot of other information.

I'm not anti-vaccination, as my children have had the others and indeed the first MMR, too but I think the way the govt has behaved is not reassuring. Any question to them is answered with the mantra 'MMR is safe, MMR is safe', as though just by saying it, makes it so.

Joe1, my older children had mumps and rubella. I didn't blame anyone. And at least I know they will have almost guaranteed 100% immunity for life, unlike my girls, whose MMR rubella immunity may well have worn off by the time they get to childbearing age.