What were your reasons for not vaccinating your child?

[Londonmamma]

I don't think we've done this for a while and I like to keep up to date on the vaccination issue so - fire away!

Fillyjonk no we dont know what causes autism but alot of health professionals and mums have linked it to vaccine, and as you are aware nobody knows a cild better than the mother. I'm not talking about autism I'm talking about all vaccine damage.

Tests should be carried out to show the streignth of the immune system before such jabs are administered, overloading a body who is already low in resistance is a recepie for disaster.

"we do have to take risks for the good of a minority"

fillyjonk - if you knew in advance that vaccinating your child would cause damage to them you wouldn't do it would you?

I agree with what gess said earlier about collateral damage and find the view that some collateral damage is acceptable offensive.

Agree with Hills too that people who vaccinate assume their child won't be affected badly by it.

Carrying on my ?I don?t trust Them? rant?

It was a big mistake to give GPs a bonus if they signed up 90% of their surgery. I didn?t know if the GP was telling me something because it was a scientific fact or because he wanted to make sure that he got his bonus. This is not a slur against my GP ? it is a complaint against the system that made him appear no better than a snake-oil salesman.

It is his moral duty as a physician to do the best for his patients, not to do things because the Government dangles £££ in front of him.

Yes its a bit late then isnt it

You have a healthy bouncing baby who is bright and egar to learn, speaking and understanding like any other baby, they have their jab and overnight turn into a withdrawn sick baby who no longer responds, no longer pays interest and crys all the time contracting every illness under the sun.

It happens far too often.

yes but you don't KNOW, do you?

thats why its a risk

and not to vaccinate is also to take a bloody big risk, IMO

And the only reason why its not a bigger risk, is because OTHERS are taking that risk instead-herd immunity

(I stress that i am not speaking here of families who have been adversely affected in the past)

Fillyjonk neither do you!! Thats the point

I have had German Measles & chicken pox

my sister has had, Scarlet fever, Yellow fever & chicken pox

My dd has had meningitis, sceptiacemia, phnemonia.

gess - you said, "i just get fed up when they then tell me I'm selfish, when my children have a completely different risk/benefit ratio". i agree and would never dare either think or say someone in your position is being selfish.

i am talking about the no. of bollocks things i have heard from friends and people i have met in their own hippie bubble who go on very very selfishly about how their child is immune BECAUSE they are bf or some other resaon. they are not immune from serious childhood diseases (the killers - i am not talking about the cold or average flu) because of the type of milk they get or the organic food mummy cooks, etc they are at LOW risk because most of us immunise our children.

what i am saying is that if those very same parents had to travel somewhere outside the west, where there is a real and genuine risk that their child may become infected, then they WOULD vaccinate, i am willing to bet my bottom pound/dollar on it. THAT is why i think they are selfish not to vaccinate here if their child is perfectly healthy, thriving not at risk of vaccine damage. they are just trying to be "alternative" which pisses me off and worst of all they are smug about it as though they have achieved some great feat in parenting or logical reasoning that the rest of us lesser mortals are unable to do

the fact is and the medical evidence says vaccines are safe. i accept what the WHO says, if you don't believe in the NHS which most of the time i don't either, then have a look at what the WHO recommends - they recommend vaccination globally not just in poor countries but in ALL countries and they say that these vaccines are safe for the vast majority of healthy children.

no i don't

but i do know that the risks of my kids getting sick and possibly having long term damage if they catch one of the dieseases is MUCH greater than the risk from vaccination (and NO ONE seriously says there is no risk, btw, if they do they are an idiot)

and I also know that the risks of getting the diesease are massively decreased by herd immunity

and I do feel it is my social responsibility to contribute to this.

and I think I'm correct in saying that kids have about 200 viruses etc floating around their immune systems at any one time. I don't think the risk with the MMR has anything to do with "overloading". its that a small number of kids have an adverse reaction.

and btw i have worked with people who have been damaged by dieseases like measles.

we are talking normal, healthy kids becoming so severely brain damaged that they spent the rest of their life in instituional care, mainly staring at a wall ( at state of care in uk esp for adults)

its not harmless. to risk your kids getting these dieseases...well i wouldn't do it.

"the fact is and the medical evidence says vaccines are safe"

Safe for whom though? Can you post a link to this evidence? I don't think there is enough evidence that vaccines are "safe" either in the long or the short term. Some people believe that vaccines harm all children to some degree.

When deciding whether or not to vaccinate I guess it comes down to whether you are more worried about the disease or the vaccine.

fillyjonk - the live viruses are not the only concern. It's also the other ingredients in the vaccines and the way they enter the body.

Yes the list of ingredients and how thay are come about are horrific, makes you wonder why people bother to eat organic

I don't think it's very fair to dismiss people who choose not to vaccinate as just trying to be "alternative". Who are you to judge someone who is at the end of the day just trying to do the best for their child? And yes I do think that where there are risks from an invasive procedure the individual should be considered first and foremost. It's also not rubbish that children who have good diets and healthy lifestyles are better able to cope with diseases. I'm not saying there are no risks from them. There are risks on all sides and it's about weighing up what's best for your child.

'When deciding whether or not to vaccinate I guess it comes down to whether you are more worried about the disease or the vaccine. '... That is true, but it needs the vast majority of parents to allow their children to have the jab. At the moment the few who choose not to continue to benefit from the fact that their child is at low risk of contracting the diseases because most of us accept the tiny risk associated with vaccination.

So you are having it both ways - great.

You won't be so happy if more people follow this path and your child becomes one of those who die or suffer damage as a result of easily preventable disease.

oh re the way they enter the body.

are you talking about - what is her name? viera schriber? her research?

I've done a lot of reading around her stuff, incl getting the stuff from her site

I think

1. she has a significant financial interest in promoting the anti-vaccination thing. She publishes books, tours the world, and ffs, charges for downloads. I find this a bit odd really, but definately evidence of bias.

1. her research does not seem good. she is using stuff like 30 yo indicative research from mice, and phd theses.

1. bear in mind that her doctorate is in something like paleolithic geography. I find it interesting that she calls herself a doctor in this context.

We know the risks some of us cant vaccinate, I cant but I also dont agree with putting that stuff into the body.

If the government reassured the public then they would be more willing to put faith into the vaccine and this would not be an issue.

and re the whole "who are you to judge" thing

what you are doing with your kid impacts on mine

vaccines are not 100% effective. NO ONE says they are. Its ALL a gamble-do you risk getting the diesese or side effects from the vaccine? Vaccines aren't 100% safe-nor is walking around unprotected from killer dieseases.

So if my kid can't have the vaccine, say because they have cancer, or doesn't create antibodies or similar, s/he is then at a risk of getting it from your unvaccinated child,.

so, YES i think it does impact on me

No I am not having it both ways. Also I'm not talking about myself necessarily. Just saying that some people are idealogically opposed to vaccination and they have a right to that view.

Don't assume things about me.

i agree they have a right to the view

don't necessarily have a right to act on it though

Oh so I'll go and book my children into having a dose of autism then shall I because you think it will protect your children