Decided against vaccinations for dd...... thoughts please

[bogie]

We had full intentions of vaccinating dd (ds-3 had his baby vaccines but no mmr) but our helth visitor left we haven't had a health visitor since dd was 2 weeks old, our gp practice is rubbish and even though I registered dd after the birth they lost the slip and had no record of it.
So we didn't hear anything about her jabs and when they needed to see her, nor did I have a postnatal 10 week check.
I phoned a few weeks ago when they said they didn't know we had a new baby and that someone must of misplaced the forms dd is now 4 months(18 weeks) and they said we need to get her in asap for her jabs but they have no appointments untill the 16th of Jan, We fly to USA on the 16th so we can't do that day she said well thats al we hae so it will have to be when you get back in feburary.

So I decided to reserch the vaccines and came across lots of anti-vaccine sites including this one
www.vaclib.org/
articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/11/11/some-parents-are-home-schooling-their-kids-to -avoid-vaccinations.aspx and we have decided not to vaccinate her based on the many sites we have come across, also the fact that we have alot of autisum in our family including my younger brother who had the mmr whereas I didn't have the mmr.

So I am interested to hear other peoples poins of veiw

if your ds is 3 yes he would have had Hib as one of the jabs, but if it were viral meningitis presumably it wasn't Hib.
Thanks foe links beachcomber very interesting.

Jute i met one of the immunologists specifically involved in the Men C Oxford research and he said there hadn't been a reactionary resurgence in Men B as a result of vax. He was very pro vax tho.

Personally I think the OP has made a bad choice, both for her own child and other children but it is her choice.

I think of children in developing countries with their polio, diptheria and other horrendous, crippling, life threatening illnesses and wonder why any person would choose not to take up the vaccines provided free of charge to us.

[sigh emoticon]

well obviously there ARE reasons why sometimes.....

Just wondering as I read something linking Hib vaccination to increased suseptibility to viral infection, I'll try to look it up when I have a moment.

Ruty you're welcome, it's an interesting website.

Regarding Men C, I have seen a research paper that clearly showed a rise in Men B type following vaccination for and a subsequent decrease in Men B. Study was conducted in Iceland IIRC.

Again will look it up when have time.

I am too old to have been immunised for MMR.

My Mother caught Rubella when pregnant. Result: A brother with hearing defects.

I caught Mumps from an unimmunised child. Result: In and out of hospital for two weeks, potentially fatal complications. (It was touch and go there for a while)

DH, when it comes to viruses, knows of what he speaks. It's his profession. The only circumstances under which he would not immunise his child was if there was a history of autoimmune disease in the family or a previous child with a reaction like jute's.

Your decision affects not only your children, but anyone who might come into contact with them. Consider that the next time you take your kids to see and elderly or frail relative.

Well slug my DD1 caught rubella from a vaccinated child. I was pregnant with DD2 at the time.

In fairness I qualify my comments with the caveat of if there is a history of autism, autoimmune disease etc.

But in general I stand by what I said. ]

Riven, the reason i think its bad for other kids is that these diseases only stay away if there is a herd immunity for which the vast majority have to be vaccinated.

As I said, it is the parents choice and given that the OP asked for thoughts - these are mine!

You've decided not to immunise your child based on what you read on the internet?

That is unwise - at the very least you should speak to a health professional as well.

I also wouldn't feel comfortable travelling with a baby who hadn't been immunised against polio, diptheria and whooping cough and I think not immunising against tetanus is just plain nuts.

Agree with wasabipeanut. Charities like OXFAM campaign tirelessly for children in developing countries to get the vaccinations we take for granted.

It's also worth remembering that vaccination against common childhood diseases, along with improved diet and sanitation, is responsible for the drastic reduction in infant mortality in this country over the last century or so.

Riven- 'Most of these illnesses are not a big deal in healthy western children.' You are correct, they are not. But that is because the vast majority of parents get their children vaccinated. In my area children stopped getting the routine TB jab about 10 years ago as it has been eradicated. It only took 5 years for new cases of TB to emerge and for the local authority to reintroduce the vaccinations.

unfortunately Northern it is currently impossible to vaccinate against tetanus without having the diptheria and pertussis part too.... ( which is really fucking helpful )
So if (like mine) your child has cause to be wary of multiple vaccines then you are, essentially screwed.

So pleased to meet you NL. I am (apparently) nuts....

I think it is entirely possible to be of the opinion that vaccination is best (and fine) for the majority of children while still acknowledging that there are some children for whom vaccination is not necessarily a good idea.

I also think that there's a difference between the parent who read in the tabloids that "mmr causes autism" and the parent who does their research and makes their decisions based on specific conditions that may exist within their family and which may trigger a reaction to vaccinations.

When I first joined mn I too was of the opinion that all children should be vaccinated and that parents who do not vaccinate are irresponsible etc etc. But as I read the experiences of parents on here whose children have had adverse reactions to vaccinations, and read links to studies etc posted by others, I realized that it's really not always black and white.

For the majority of children, vaccination is absolutely fine, and they have no ill effects. But for a minority, vaccination can have devostating consequences. As a society, do we not owe it to that minority to take them into consideration as wel? Surely every child should be treated as an individual, and acknowledged that what is best for one isn't necessarily best for another?

some nursery/pre schools will not take unvaccinated children. How will that effect your schooling choices?

mmr has a hell of a confusing back story

BUT TB is a real problem in some parts of london (my uncle has it as we speak) and airports are one of the easiest places to meet infected people.
My DC had their TB jab only hours old.

Also tetanus is a consideration ...toddler in the park, cuts and scrapes

As a child i had one of the early mmr and was very ill for a week, my sister didn't and got whooping cough, would cough herself until physically sick for months.

its a tough decision because it has become so emotional, just take a deep breath and make your choice.
Procrastination is not a choice, take responsibility.

WannaBe I totally agree that there are indeed a minority of children who would be ill advised due to a family history or suchlike to avoid multiple vaccinations. But that is a tiny minority.

Not having ANY vaccinations for your child because you were away and then backing that decision with some cursery opinions gained from the Web is unwise and irresponsible IMO.

Herd immunity to the diseases which used to kill children will hold provided that it remains a tiny minority. However, the outbreaks of measles, especially in South London would indicate that a sizeable minority are now "opting out" of certain vaccinations and that causes problemns for everyone including the young, elderly, pregnant or otherwise frail.

I understand your concern Bogie, but then I am also nuts too, apparently.

How easy it is to dismiss people by calling them "nuts" and as for "cursory opinions" have you ever read any of the links posted here?

Anyway Bogie it sounds to me like you made the right choice. I don't think the travel plans should affect it.

We've forgotten how many lives were lost or destroyed through childhood illness. We no longer see many people hobbling or crippled by Polio or hear so much about what Mumps did.

Will your travel insurance cover an unvaccinated child if you go to the US? Medical help there is very very expensive.

Of course there are contraindications to every medicine, but I think that a lot of the anti vaccination is based on Dogma.

I think we've forgotten how many lives weren't lost actually.

yes riven. chicken pox the killer disease.

Of course some of the illnesses vaccinated against had devostating effects. But chicken pox is not one of them.

Shingles isn't very nice...

wannaBe- Ever heard of varicella pneumonia or encephalitis? Chicken pox is usually a minor illness, but can be fatal in neonates, adults and the immunocompromised. I have seen a young adult die of chicken pox pneumonia- it is rare, but can happen.

I will be getting my ds and any subsequent children fully-immunised.

The BCG vaccination programme was stopped due to research showing that the incidence of TB infections hasn't decreased since it started.

The children/people most at risk remained unvaccinated,the people at virtually no risk were vaccinated.

Apparently contracting TB isn't that easy,you need to be in close contact ie. living with an infected person for about 3 months.

BCG vacs are still offered to children and people who are at risk.

I know more people who have been killed in car accidents than have died from the flu/chicken pox/insert common illness of choice.

I wonder what would happen if illness was iradicated? would we have a super healthy population? or would we have people with 0 immunity because they'd never had to build any, who would die of the smallest cough/cold when the bugs mutated (because viruses do mutate)?