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?

Its not really a comfort to hear of so many children that were fine after the triple jab (though brilliant of course that they are okay), but it just makes me feel that my son who is 13 mnths and due any time will be the unlucky one.

I'm going to make enquiries about the separate jabs.

Its not really a comfort to hear of so many children that were fine after the triple jab (though brilliant of course that they are okay), but it just makes me feel that my son who is 13 mnths and due any time will be the unlucky one.

I'm going to make enquiries about the separate jabs.

Its not really a comfort to hear of so many children that were fine after the triple jab (though brilliant of course that they are okay), but it just makes me feel that my son who is 13 mnths and due any time will be the unlucky one.

I'm going to make enquiries about the separate jabs.

(from Lil, 1 L!)

Just to add, especially to Callie, a true benefit of vaccines we seem to have forgotten, my son has just been quite ill with a temperature this last week and its not clear what is causing it (we've all been there!). However, there's a part of me quite relieved because he has had his MMR and all his jabs - which means I can cross off a lot of the serious illnesses, including measles (especially as i live near the current outbreak). This is a big relief - and cuts down the worry, so think ahead!!

BTW I have yet to see any documentation whatsoever that says single jabs are better - the Wakefield report certainly doesn't, as its the reaction to the measles vaccination that is claimed to cause the bowel problems etc. how can having it singly help!!

AND having spoken to quite a few European friends over this las year, it is clear this current hysteria has hardly touched them - they seem bemused as to what we're making a fuss about - and they've had the jabs as long as us!

that's my pro-rant!!

Lil-there is a similar debate in France against the triple jab and the intake has seriously dropped...
Also- there are NO guarantees that your children won't have any of the diseases you have vaccinated them against. It is unlikely that they will get them but if they do, they might get a very severe strain !
None of this is black and white... there are risks in everything.

Joe1 : I won't blame anyone : not the gvt, not friends, not me,... if my kids develop any of these diseases. I don't believe you should inject such strong things in very immature immune systems.

I have a friend who lost a sibling to measles so when the possible disadvantages of vaccination are being discussed I wish TV programmes would also talk about the risks of not vaccinating your child. Measles can be a minor childhood illness - it can also have very unpleasant long term consequences or even be fatal. Mumps can cause infertility in boys. Rubella is very unpleasant for pregnant women. While it is not impossible to get these illnesses if you have been vaccinated it is much less likely and the disease is mild - for example immunised women who get rubella in pregnancy do not have damaged children.

The choice for a parent deciding about vaccination is therefore which risk you want to run for your child? You can risk diseases that we know can be fatal or have serious side effects or you can risk a possible link to autism. The link to autism is unproven. If it does exist it will not cover all autistic children since many show symptoms before the MMR/ were not vaccinated.

Iam due to leave for the clinic in one hr. I agree with whst you say lill. Everytime dd has a temp i worry it could be measles.
At least iam taking that worry away.
Iam still v nervous though but totally decided.
I suppose none of us no for sure we just have to trust our instincts.
I have reasearched this for over a yr now and ummed and arred so iam glad after today i can put this behind me.
I'll post later to tell you how she got on.
iam going to give some calpol in about 30 mins. And then tonight.
Did any one have a disturbed night after the jab?

wendym, can you clarify an interesting point you made about rubella in pregnancy? I was immunised at 12 and before trying for a baby took a tip from a midwife friend and asked to be checked for continued immunity. My immunity had lapsed, I was re-immunised, and we didn't try for a baby for the next three months. So, are you saying, that even though my original immunisation had lapsed, I would not have contracted the risky sort of rubella? In other words, from the point of view of the unborn child, was the re-immunisation necessary?
Not trying to split hairs, just curious about this.

All the distressing anecdotes from affected families & consequent hype by the media hasn't influenced my views on MMR. For those families affected by bowel disease, autism etc, a proven link would make things simpler, but the research just doesn't back up people's fears. My 18 month old has just had hers and was fine.
This website has some interesting statistics on the 'risks' involved with having/not having the immunisations.
www.medinfo.co.uk/immunisations/mmr.html

Callie
I too gave calpol before, but she was fine. She even watched the needle going in and didn't cry. Every time she cried during the night for the past 3 weeks (since having MMR) I've gone to her instead of letting her cry..this whole thing has made me paranoid. the website (below) also has a list of side effects you might expect after the jab. good luck, I know it's not easy (nor is anything about being a parent)

could i just make the point that the risk of not immunising one's children does not only extend to one's own child.

my ds is 6 1/2m - therefore too young for the MMR. Since we live near the current outbreak and he is at nursery, i am concerned that he now has a much greater risk of exposure because of other parents decisions, yet we have no way of protecting him...

Absolutely Bossykate. Isn't it children with leukemia who are unable to be immunised and for whom a dose of Measles could well prove fatal?.

One of the parents at the affected nursery was quoted as saying rather smugly that there are those "parents who just do as they are told and others like us who think for themselves". Oh how the parents of the million or so children who die every year in developing countries through illnesses which we are able to vaccinate against would puzzle over that remark.

Pupuce, I'm sorry, but suggesting that children who have had the MMR, and then contract one of the diseases, could get 'a more severe strain' is just scaremongering - something that no-one needs right now! I respect your right to not immunise your children. I had my daughter immunised so I hope she helps not to spread this needless measles outbreak to children whose parents didn't have them vaccinated. Remember, you might be OK with your choice but there are plenty of people out there who would rather their children DIDNT get measles before their MMR.

After 3 months of extensive reading and worrying, last week I booked in to see the private consultant for a very long chat regarding my fears about MMR. I am SO confused;one day yes to MMR the next single jabs from our local Outreach Clinic. To conclude my very esteemed Consultant informed me that Andrew Wakefield from The Royal Free went ahead and contacted The Lancet with his findings but failed to point out that none of his research team backed his findings ... so.. the consultant then went on to inform me that he has three grandchildren all born within 48 hours of each other and all due for the MMR and he has spoken to all of his children and advised them to go ahead.

As an aside The Primeminister has not helped by refusing to be drawn on Baby Leo. Whilst I understand his right to privacy and any questions regarding his family he sees as an invasion of such, I feel that we are not asking whether his daughter is taking the pill, but whether his own child is in fact following his governments health policy.

I'm actually very very cynical about the Blair's Baby. They were only too happy to push him into the limelight when it suited them politically and now because they are having to show that they follow the same line that the rest of the country's parents do - suddenly they are worried about privacy?! Oh! Wasn't there another case of this 'don't do as I do, do as I say' in the Blair family? Oh yes - no public school education for the rest of the great unwashed electorate - but Mr Blair can make the decision on what's best for HIS children and send them to a private school if he wants the choice. What pure and utter hypocrisy. I bet you any money you like that Leo Blair hasn't had the injection. This is the problem with the current government - they think we're all stupid, and string us soundbite after soundbite. MMR may well be safe - both my children have had the damn thing - but the fundamental thing is that people don't trust the advice they're being dispensed with from a great height and vote with their feet. Sorry to rant, but really, this is a public relations disaster which needs sorting out asap.

Enid you are right, I shouldn't scare others out there... and I don't mean to so I am hesitating to continue on this thread because I have different beliefs on this topic as the majority.
This is a subject I have read alot about. My own family has quite a few people in the medical profession - one of them is a cousin who is a surgeon and considers me a "hippie" for not vaccinating my kids !
There is evidence that suggets that vaccination is an unreliable means of preventing disease. The Center for Disease Control (US) even reported a measles outbreak in a documented 100% vaccinated population in 1989. There are also outbreaks in schools with vaccination levels of greater than 98%.
I just don't think it is honest to pretend that your child (vaccinated)is now risk free !
Immunization isn't forever either -you can develop the illness later in life.

Pamina - I know I said I'd be quiet... but even if your daughter catches measles, she may very well be perfectly fine with it.
Let's keep things into perspective. I find that the scare monguering about HOW DANGEROUS MEASLES IS - quite frightening....It can develop into serious side-effects and in a few cases death... but as said before. What did we do when there was no vaccine ? Ask your mum?

Do we need to be reminded that small pox was a big killer disease before immunisation was introduced and iradicated the disease in this country?

AS Charliemummy said I think the main point is that Andrew wakefieled hasn't been able to prove anything!!! I haven't read much but from the program the other night did not seem to be a high number of these cases, actually only a few were presented (which made me think there aren't any more), how many suspected cases of MMR linked autism are there really? and what is the risk of dying of measles?

I don't know, I'm happy I have afew months ahead of me to make up my mind, but I can't help thinking that Wakefield's assumptions are just that, and until they are proven probably the safer route is the jab (but I'll be very nervous when I get to it).

As far as Europe is concerned, my BIL's aunt is a nurse in a vaccination clinic in Italy and no one has ever heard of the autism link there and my niece has had hers.
the fact that the jab intake has decreased in a few countries does not mean that it is unsafe, only that there is an increasing number of confused parents around...

Pupuce you have answered all the points raised by others brilliantly esp Joe1 and Enids, just thought you could do with some moral support. It is interesting that noone answered my question regarding chicken pox. I also find it interesting that those that vaccinate are so frightened of the disease. Surely if you believe your kids are protected, why worry?
2 other points to note MMR is given at 12months as babies under this age are not 'at risk' of these diseases
disease work in cycles therefore there will be times when they crop up again that is the nature of things
sorry this is badly typed but i have a poorly babe on my lap - crumbs hope its not....

Pupuce, just to add my support on this one, as I think you & I are of similar mind. As regards the more serious strain of measles, I think the reports show that the incidence is 12 -15 % in vaccinated children, as against

15 children died of measles in 1987 in the UK, the year the (tory) govt introduced the MMR. goodness knows how many others were damaged by getting measles. I had measles when I was 3 and remember only too well the rheumatic pains I had in all my joints. My GP was against vaccination for 'minor' childhood illnesses. I too think the Blairs should reveal whether Leo has had his MMR - but from the point of view of herd immunity, ie safety of other children, not just to satisfy the British public's thirst for intimate knowledge of celebrities' (& their offspring's) lives.

Because Lill, I don't have an 'I'm alright Jack' attitude. I do worry about other kids getting measles, mumps, rubella even though dd has been vaccinated, just as I worry about lots of things that might not affect me personally.

If there was a chicken pox vaccine yes, my daughter would get that too, unless there were any believable studies to show that there were harmful side-effects. Why go through something like chicken pox unneccessarily? There are risks with an epidural too, but we don't expect all labouring mums to have a drug-free birth.

I've got flu at the mo and would have been quite happy to have been vaccinated against that too! Bring it on!