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Original poster

Single measles jab - risks vs MMR

17 replies

jasperc163 · 15/10/2006 14:58

Sorry if this has been covered on here before but can someone explain to me why, if the measles virus is implicated in autism, bowel disease etc, it is considered safer if given as a single jab?

My DD is due for MMR soon and i am leaning towards single jabs but i am still not entirely clear of the risks associated with the single measles jab?

thanks alot
alice

OP posts:
jenkel · 15/10/2006 15:32

Not an expert but I think the problem is that they are live vaccines, so I think problems could arise from giving 3 live vaccines in one go.

Both my dd's have had the single vaccines, the first one was due to have mmr at the height of the scare, I have limited medical knowledge so we just went with out gut feeling which was the singles, after all both DH and I had the single vaccines with no complications. And we felt that we ought to treat dd2 the same way.

I also felt that if we had given them MMR and they had developed autism, bowel disease etc we would automatically blame the MMR.

3andnomore · 15/10/2006 15:55

The problem with single jabs is that you will have more trips to teh Doctor, as you lil one will need for each one seperately, and it's not jsut the measles one obviously they still also need the Rubella and Mumps one, unless you would decide to opt out of that....so, your lil one will have to be jabbed more often!
The other problem is that they use unlicenced and untested vaccines for the singles, which can have been compromised my the way they were stored etc....and there have been cases of Doctors using vaccines that basically didn't work at all! So, you will have lost a lot of money for a dudd product and your lil one will have had plenty of injections, too boot...!
Another thing is, that apparently it is thte measle virus that was supposedly found in the gut of those few children that had autism and gut disease....so, if it is the measle virus, then there is no way of knowing if getting the wild strain of mealse virus or getting injected with measle virus in single jabs could not possibly have the smae effect anyway!

edam · 15/10/2006 16:02

Um, it's not true that the single jabs are untested. They are. And the unlicensed bit is only because the UK authorities withdrew the licence when MMR was brought in, IIRC. There was one dodgy doc who was done for making money on single jabs by not actually using effective vaccines. But I don't think there's any proof that any other single vaccine clinics are dodgy. I went to one in Hemel Hempstead that was actually recommended by my health visitor. All clinics should be registered with the Healthcare Commission and inspected regularly (has switched or is switching from the Care Standards Commission Inspectorate - can't remember exact name but deffo CSCI). Any clinic worth its salt will happily give you a record of the drug used down to the batch number and packaging so the medicine is traceable if there were any recalls in future.

Original poster
jasperc163 · 16/10/2006 07:57

thanks everyone. Anyone else re risks of single measles vaccine?

OP posts:
giddy1 · 16/10/2006 08:32

Message deleted

jenkel · 16/10/2006 09:06

We are also using the Hemel clinic

Original poster
jasperc163 · 30/11/2006 16:52

am upping this in case anyone else can clarify this for me? Is giddy1's explaination re mumps and measles interaction correct. There just seems to be very little about this.

I am moving back to herts in Jan so at least the Hemel place will be easily accessible

thanks again
alice

OP posts:
Uwila · 30/11/2006 17:06

Actually thought the reason for the order of 1 measels 2 rubella 3 mumps is because that is the order of the severity of the diseases.

I know know nothing about the interaction. You need Jimjams to come over here.

twelvedaysofchristmas · 30/11/2006 17:07

I thought the research on the MMR jab was considered flawed, particularly since Dr Andrew Wakefield's control group was only a small number of children and some of the research focussed purely on parents who THOUGHT the jab had caused problems, therefore it could not be considered a control group at all.

Plus, his research didn't take into account the millions of children who have had the jab with no problems at all and it didn't seek to find any other reason why the children in his study had gastro-intestinal problems or autism.

And didn't the Lancet medical journal withdraw its support of his findings when it was discovered that one of his reasearch into Autism and the MMR jab was being funded by a pharmaceutical company which manufactured single jabs?

I can't remember all the details - my husband reads respected medical research on day to day basis for his job and told me most of this.

Storm in a rather large teacup, IMO, though I'm sure I may get shot down over this.

Original poster
jasperc163 · 01/12/2006 07:21

thanks both. Uwila - thats what i understood re the order too.

I am just trying to understand - what was Wakefield's arguement for single vaccines if the measles is the problematic one? Is it an interaction issue as giddy1 suggests?

Someone who has given their LOs singles must know??

alice

OP posts:
nuttymum1 · 01/12/2006 08:26

have a look at jabs.org.uk it may be able to help

ruty · 01/12/2006 09:00

the cochrane report brought out last year which the govt claimed to give conclusive evidence that MMR was safe actually concluded that 'research both for and against the safety of MMR is woefully inadequate.'
Jimjams is the expert on these things but i think it is the interaction between mumps and measles components which is thought to be problematic, if only in a tiny percentage of cases, for those children who have pre existing gut problems. Most children are now thought to be able to tolerate MMR, but it is a problem of how to identify the small number who may be at risk.

Original poster
jasperc163 · 01/12/2006 13:05

thanks - i havent been able to find anything on jabs so i have posted on their forum. Will post back here if i get an answer (unless jimjams sees this in the meantime?)

alice

OP posts:
Jimjams2 · 01/12/2006 13:08

Sorry to bow out but I don't have the energy at the moment to go into it all. There was a long thread last week under health that discusses a lot of this (touches on MMR vs singles)- that has lots of links and information there- it was a very civilised discussion as well- and identifies the risk factors for MMR- and there's a small thread in SN at the moment.

Apologies but I can't face it at the moment.

ruty · 01/12/2006 13:46

hope you are ok Jimjams.

Original poster
jasperc163 · 01/12/2006 15:25

Jimjams - yes, do hope you are ok and things improve. Please don't worry about my post! I looked at the thread on SNs which is quite useful, and the one on here, so thanks.

alice

OP posts:
Jimjams2 · 01/12/2006 19:44

Good luck in your decision jasper.

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