I need some opinions on MMR please

[Jojay]

My DS has just turned 1, so I'm expecting a letter about the MMR jab any day now.

I'm undecided of the best route to take, whether to have the MMR, to have single jabs, or have no jabs at all. He's had all the other normal jabs so far.

Can I have some views as to my best course of action please? I know there will be conflicting views - that's what I want, to hear both sides of the story IYSWIM.

We have no allergies or history of autism in the family.

Thanks in advance

Jojay, this is one of the topis on which a lot of blood has been shed over the years on MN, so people might be reluctant to get involved.

It's really worth doing a search on this, there is a wealth of threads and informed opinion to be found.

OK, I'll trawl through the archives - thanks.

If anyone else wants to post though, please feel free. I certainly don't want to pick a fight with anyone.

As you'll read in the archives, gut problems or autoimmune conditions in the family are a big signal against the MMR (or at least warranting very careful consideration of whether or not to go for it). It is also worth remembering that for most children MMR is safe.

why don't you ask at your local doctors? or, if you don't trust them to give you a professionally un-biased answer then should you not think about changing doctors? surely their opinions are worth more than those of some anonymous fat and hairy truckers on a parenting website?

(actually sorry, they're not all fat.)

Agree with Berolina, of course it's none of my business (so feel free to tell me where to get off) but, why would you not innoculate them at all?
My mum was left very deaf after a bout of measles when she was a child.

I gave my DC's the single dose MMR with homeopathy to counteract the side effects.

FWIW (should poss declare my hand) I MMRed ds1 but will not be giving the booster (although he was fine) and ds2 will be having singles. I decided hat our family history and circumstances made it a tiny but unacceptable risk.

Also be aware that no vaccination is a 100% guarantee of anything. An immunity test has revealed that the mumps part of ds1's MMR didn't really work.

Doctors don't give unbiased advise on MMR though, do they? I thought they had targets to hit. It is part of a health visitors job to tell you that it is best for your child to have the MMR.

do you really think many doctors would advise you to do something that was harmful just because it was part of a target? that's my point really. how many doctors do you think would advise people to take, say, antibiotics for a cold if they introduced a target for it?

My eldest didn't get the MMR until she was 11 because my GP said no (egg allergy). DS1 DS2 and DS3 all had MMR. DS1 and DS2 have dyspraxia, DS2 also has ADHD and some sort of IBS so I am now thinking very carefully about whether to give it to DD2.

Having read Halvorsen's book (search under username Gess) I have almost decided to pay for the single measles jab at 15 months, and the single rubella at 11 or so.

i have also been thinking about this as my ds is just one, i did do a search on here for opinions about MMR but there were soooo many i got overwhelmed! So if you can bear to post here i would be grateful too! ta

I don't think jojay is a real person.

Good point Pistachio. Would the Government recommend the MMR if it were harmfull?

I think we can agree that MMR appears to cause regression in a very small number of children.

I am the parent -- the risk of my baby regressing into autism is unacceptable, even if the probability of such an event is very very low. >> So, no MMR for dd. I'd rather do separate injections.

I am the state -- a very tiny minority of autistic kids does not weigh heavily against the prospect of an epidemic of measles, mumps, or rubella. My priority is the safety of general public, not the unfortunate roll of dice that affects only a couple of hundred kids. From a cost perspective as well, I can always pay the costs of several hundred autistic kids, but the economic costs of an epidemic can be very high. >> So, the state pushes for MMR.

Lynette - That is like saying "Would government take us to war if they thought anybody would die?".

I decided against the single jabs since they are used in Japan, but in that country there has been no halt in the rise of the incidence of autism.

I read the stats & the results of the studies which is what I suggest you do.

My children have had the MMR.

look for posts on the subject by jimjams, she's very well-informed on the subject.

CoteDAzur, you are spot on.

I should have put a at the end of my last post.

Ok so you are a real person many apologies.

It's your choice for your child don't just ask here, please for your kid do the research www.jabs.org.uk.

Read what some of the parents there have to say.

Those who think the government wouldn't push the MMR if it was harmful are hopelessly idealistic.

My Mum was left deaf in one ear after measles as a child. We haven't vaccinated ds2 or ds3 at all. The decision is more complicated.

If you want a very good book I'd recommend Richard Halvorsen's "the trut about vaccinations' (available on Amazon, dirt cheap). He's a GP. He has a big bee in his bonnet about the fact that safety tests on vaccinations are so poor, but he does end up recommending most vaccinations.

Actually the Japan study is a nonsense anyway- MMR was replaced by singles given on the same day- which is the same as giving the MMR.

Anyway- anything talking about the 'rise in autism' isn't even considering the correct hypothesis. MMR has been implicated in less than 10% of a cases of autism (around 7%). This is too small to be picked up on any sort of epidemiological survey that has been done to date.