Another MMR question. DS is 7 and I'm now thinking of taking the plunge

[clumsymum]

We din't have him MMR'ed as a baby, cos my step-son is autistic, and we didn't want to risk that genetic pre-disposition with the triple vaccine.

However, as he gets older I know that the risk of damage from measles gets greater (I was kind of hoping that he'd catch it to get his immunity when he was tiny, but he didn't).

I think I read somewhere that the possible risks from the vaccine are less as he gets older, or did I just dream it?

DH and I have talked it round and round, but we really should make a decision. Any info you can give would be gratefully received

I'm no scientist just a mum who did a lot of research. My two ds's had separate vaccines initially. My ds1 recently had the MMRV here in the States and had no reaction whatsoever. My ds2 has already had the Varicella as part of our Green Card medical and even I had to have the MMRV . I would certainly recommend that you seriously consider giving him the vaccination now. Mumps can be a very serious disease for young boys. You need Gess who's posting the other thread for more information.

I'm currently thinking along the same lines for 5yo dd. She had the single vacs when she was a baby but has had no boosters. I was wondering whether it would be OK to give her the MMR now.

The risk for autism would be much less because to regress from 7 is much harder iyswim. It wouldn't be dxed as autism anyway. There would still be the adverse reaction risk that comes with any vaccination.

I'm in the same position btw- (have severely autistic eldest). Will vaccinate the youger 2 as they leave childhood (quite when not sure???? - ds2 I may do soon - he's 5; d3 has a dodgy gut so we will leave longer). Came to the same decision as you though re risk from measles itself increasing with age.

Oh dose up with vitamin A (in cod liver oil) before giving the measles jab.

mumps btw isn't usually serious for young boys- it;s often so mild as to be sub clinical- it's teens plus who are at risk- from sterility. But that's very rare as usually only one testicle is affected. It kind of depends on how you weight up the risk.

Thanks.

My sister works at a college for blind people, and a number of the students there were blinded when they caught measles in their teens.