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Original poster

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

159 replies

user1480775842 · 15/12/2016 16:15

Please help me... my baby is 4 months old and is amazing and healthy etc. My fiancé and all his family are against vaccinations and think they are very bad and cause lots of health issues.
My family and everyone else I know... are for it and say of course my child should have them.
I don't want to put my child at risk either way I am so unsure of what to do here.

OP posts:
PhilomenaCunk · 16/12/2016 18:12

Pees. Peer reviewed studies. Now.

PhilomenaCunk · 16/12/2016 18:15

And I bet my ass that once the child has measles, mumps, whooping cough or meningitis it won't be feeling the benefit of your idiotic 'stats'.

BdumBdummer · 16/12/2016 18:24

Pees - pretty Donald Trump-esque twisting of data to reinforce a bollocks notion. I was never vaccinated- I have MS. Which proves ... feck all. Although without herd immunity I may develop the measles I never had in childhood and die. But thanks for the bollocks.

BdumBdummer · 16/12/2016 18:27

And my dd was fully vaccinated and is allergic to NOTHING.

Atenco · 16/12/2016 18:28

Look around an old graveyard and see how many under 5s are buried there. It's pretty sobering.
What do you think those children died of ? Common childhood illnesses that we are fortunate enough to have eradicated through modern medicine like vaccines that's what

The old graveyard where I grew up was full of entire families that had been wiped out by consumption (tuberculosis) and although there is a vaccine for that it is rarely used in the UK. It stopped being such a problem mainly because of better living conditions and antibiotics.

I am not an expert on vaccines by a long shot, but at the same time I do think people have to do their own research when it comes to the health of their children. From bitter experience, I don't have blind faith in the medical profession, though there are some wonderful doctors out there.

BdumBdummer · 16/12/2016 18:32

Do their own research and consider the consequences for immunocompromised people like me. Don't expect the benefits of society like free schools etc if you opt out of a societal basic like ensuring herd immunity.

GinIsIn · 16/12/2016 18:38

Actually atenco that is completely incorrect. TB has been on the rise in recent years due to people no longer bothering with the vaccination and is once more becoming problematic in highly built up areas.

PotteringAlong · 16/12/2016 18:39

Vaccinate. Always always vaccinate

reallyanotherone · 16/12/2016 18:55

What fenella said.

Plus antibiotic resistant tb is now a massive, massive problem. In london they vaccinate all babies as routine- immigration is bringing the disease back, and there is no treatment any more.

So hardly "rarely used". There are huge waiting lists for the vaccine in some areas.

BratFarrarsPony · 16/12/2016 18:58

" . It stopped being such a problem mainly because of better living conditions and antibiotics. "

Atenco wake up will you? (Antibiotic resistant)TB has been on the rise in built up urban areas for the last 20 years. I gladly accepted the offer of infant BCG for my children because of where we were living. If it wasnt on the rise, the BCG would not have been offered, would it?

OlennasWimple · 16/12/2016 18:58

Looks like the OP has just posted this here and not come back...

SpeckledyBanana · 16/12/2016 19:30

She did, on about pg 2. She's going to vaccinate I think.

LumelaMme · 16/12/2016 19:32

I see Pees has done a runner...

The old graveyard where I grew up was full of entire families that had been wiped out by consumption (tuberculosis) and although there is a vaccine for that it is rarely used in the UK. It stopped being such a problem mainly because of better living conditions and antibiotics.
It stopped being such a problem because of the routine testing of cattle (TB in milk being a key vector) and the culling of affected animals (possibly the whole herd, I can't remember the details). And vaccination.

And now, as PP have observed, it's drug-resistant and making a come-back. Even the strains that are not drug-resistant are difficult to treat.

Blossomdeary · 16/12/2016 19:37

Vaccinate.

If your in-laws are in any doubt, take them off to an old cemetery and count the graves of the children who lost their lives to these terrible childhood illnesses in the past, and to illnesses that have been eradicated because of vaccination. Ask them to imagine themselves holding a conversation about vaccination with one of these parents from the past - then imagine what might be the reply!

GlumsTheWord · 16/12/2016 19:46

Here is a copy of a letter that went out at my dc's school recently - hth.

Measles, Chicken Pox and Shingles
Please may we ask for your cooperation in an important matter.
One of our students is receiving medical treatment for cancer which puts them at risk if they are
exposed to measles, chicken pox or shingles.
The best way to protect our student from measles is for all children at school to be immunised against
measles. Please would you discuss measles immunisation with your GP if your child has not already
received it. If your child is suspected of having measles, you should let us know immediately.
Our student is also at risk from chicken pox and would need to be given an injection within three days
of contact. If your child is suspected of having chicken pox you should let us know immediately.
It is also important that you let us know if there is shingles in your household.
Your child is not at any risk whatsoever from this situation. However, the health and wellbeing of our
student who is at risk, does depend on the co-operation of all other parents and we hope you can help us.

VikingChallenger · 16/12/2016 21:13

Op, mumsnet is not the right place to ask that type of question. It is your duty to make an informed decision, no one on here has the absolute truth on vaccines, because it is complicated.
For all the thousands of people that say vaccinate, there will be one parent that would do anything to turn back time and not vaccinate. That is the truth. It's easy to dismiss other's pain when all is fine and dandy in your reality.

Anyway, I believe this makes a good read.
Also, I think your dp is more entitled to say "don't vaccinate" than all the hysterical posters on here saying you should. Idiots are those who don't question, not those who do.
I vaccinated, but staggered the shots.

BratFarrarsPony · 16/12/2016 21:16

" Idiots are those who don't question, not those who do. "

do you honestly think that those who made the decision to vaccinate their children did not spend time 'questioning'? How arrogant is that?

VikingChallenger · 16/12/2016 21:33

It is arrogant of you to assume that because they have questioned it previously (and made the decision to vaccinate) no one else should.
Op, just tell your "idiot" dp and his "idiot" family that the wise people of mumsnet have done their research and concluded everyone else from now on should just vaccinate!

shewolfmum · 17/12/2016 00:17

Well said brat

KeyserSophie · 17/12/2016 00:18

You seem to be mixing and matching countries so it's impossible to tell how unvaccinated kids compare to their local population...

You also need to adjust for income and maternal education. Unvaccinated children in developed countries more likely to come from stable income families with degree educated mothers (oh the irony) both which correlate strongly with better child health.

bumbleymummy · 17/12/2016 00:38

Fenella, re the TB vaccine - it's not that people 'aren't bothering' with it. It is only being offered in certain areas. It has been found to be less effective against pulmonary TB (although it can offer some protection against TB meningitis which is why it is still offered to some children in certain areas) A new TB vaccine is being developed.

GinIsIn · 17/12/2016 05:32

bumbleymummy - the TB vaccination is indeed not offered in all areas, because the occurrence of TB is extremely concentrated into densely populated deprived economic areas. The vast majority of cases occur in inner city London for example. The attached graphic is from the government's TB report and illustrates why it's not necessary to offer the vaccine everywhere and why a lower uptake on vaccinating in areas where it is offered is a problem as I said in my previous post.

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?
DoctorDonnaNoble · 17/12/2016 07:00

Viking, I have to say I would always always vaccinate. I would rather have a 'vaccine damaged' child than a dead one.
Why did you stagger them? There is no evidence to suggest this is necessary, and it leaves your child at risk for longer.
There is something so privileged and genuinely First World Problem about this.
Vaccines have genuinely become a victim of their own success.

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 17/12/2016 09:38

I haven't read the book that Viking proposed but a quick look on Amazon shows that the guy who wrote it is the founder of a clinic that vaccinated children with the separate vaccines.

So he may not be completely unbiased.......

My "anecdata" is this - I know one person that was damaged by polio (now in their 60s) and one person who was hospitalised as a baby with measles (no lasting damage, now in their 30s). Both of these have had it confirmed by doctors that they were "disease damaged".

I do not know anyone who is "vaccination damaged" as confirmed by doctors. I also do not know anyone who is believed to be "vaccination damaged" but not confirmed.

Wonderflonium · 17/12/2016 09:58

It's a pretty poor show to say that a possibly elevated chance of having allergies or ADHD is a fate worse than death (for your kid or someone that your kid infects who cannot be vaccinated).

And for everyone who is concerned about their child having too many vaccines too close together, what do they think will happen if their child gets all those diseases for real within a few weeks or months? If no one vaccinates, this becomes more and more likely.

Interesting how the only experts proposing this are the ones selling the single vaccines and books. For conspiracy theorists, you sure have missed an obvious clue that you are being manipulated by people who want your money.