Elstree Clinic/MMR - BBC News tonight.....

[mckenzie]

I've just heard the BBC News now saying that they believe that the vaccines being given at the Elstree clinic have possibly been dodgy for ages and not just for the small time period that was previously announced. DS had the measles and rubella done there last year.
This being in the news again today has made me realise that I've been putting my head in the sand rather than think about what action, if any, we should take re testing, more vaccines, MMR etc.
I'm not trying to start an MMR debate, just looking to hear what anyone else has done in this situation and their reasons why.

I tend to think a lot of these scares are blown out of proportion (the govt likes phoney wars- remember 45 mins wnd etc etc). If you are worried get a blood test done. My autistic son was out through the stress of a blood test to check lead levels iron level, chromosomes etc- they had to collect about 6 tubes of blood. He screamed the place down, but it was soon forgotten and it was done very quickly. However if you read around you will soon find that there is some debate about whether antibodies being present actually guarantees immunity The immune system is very poorly understood (and is very very complex!) However knowing antibodies were present should give some piece of mind.

Very convenient story for the DOH, I think.

Dinny
glad it's not just me who's cynical about our wonderful government !!

I'm horrified that the news report just recommended taking any child thought to be at risk for MMR. No mention of blood test to check for immunity, lets just double vaccinate for the hell of it.

If it was my son, I would demand a test, then decide on single vaccine again if test proved negative to each disease.

Why are the doh being so pig-headed on this issue?

McKenzie - my dd was vaccinated at Elstree 2 yrs ago. I am more worried about the affect of contaminated vaccine on her rather than if shei s immune or not! I have made an appt to seem y gp next Monday to get advice. Will post again next week.

Just to let you know - the main reason they dont recomment blood tests is that most GP's very rarely take blood from a small child and are therefore not very good at it! (my dh never takes blood from children, he always refers them to the paediatrician if it needs done, and has referred children whose parents want immunity tested, but where we are it can be done next week, whereas in many places it would be seen as clogging up paediatric outpatient clinics with uneccesary patients.)
But if a parent wants the test I dont see why it shouldnt be done - you might have to wait a while, thats all. It is unfair I think to expect a GP to do a procedure they are not happy to do. My dh, for example, stitches small cuts when on call as a matter of course and does minor operations (toenails, warts, moles, cysts etc) but as he has never done any paediatrics before going into GP (but did do surgery and casualty) he feels his skills are up to some procedures but not others, and he doesnt like to inflict his inadequacies on any patients, especially children. But thats just his position, others might just be being bloody minded about vaccination!

To add to this I had a letter from the General Medical Council who I complained to recently. Dr Pugh is now under criminal investigation for allegedly falsifying blood test results. It just gets worse. We certainly will try to sue him now we know this although dd never had a blood test now we have good reason for why she didn't. Mckenzie, dd was vaccinated again at the Breakspear Clinic in Hemel Hempstead. Just measles so far.

just to add to susanmt. When ds1 was sent for blood tests he was given an outpatients hospital appointment.... My GP wouldn't have stood a chance. He had enough trouble geting a blood pressure reading from him.

having siad that the hospital were very good. He had to have about 6 tubes of blood collected and they did it very quickly without fuss.

Tillysmummy - I live in Hemel Hempstead - where is the Breakspear clinic? Is it private? I still not not want to give dd the MMR - jsut singel measles. Thanks

interesting susanmt (where have you been lately? haven't seen you around)
I have a very thich skin regards anything medical for me and my kids but having seen one paediatric consultant get blood out of my baby I refused to allow them to repeat the test.

just reread that, it wasn't a criticism of the consultant, but a comment on how hard it was to do and in the end how brutal .

you know what makes me so mad ? the govt is so quick to slag off any perceived weaknesses in the single vaccine sphere; why arent they slagging off the failure of their precious NHS with the hib vaccine which has caused thousands of us parents to be told to get our toddlers re-vaccinated.???? hypocrites of the worst kind.
My daughter was given the measles vaccine at Elstree by Dr Pugh; she subsequently had her mumps and rubella at Breakspear, and a measles immunity test. It took two of us to hold her down while the Doctor drew the blood but she tested immune and I do not regret a thing - I would NEVER have given the MMR in a million years. Breakspear were very good and didnt simply want to revaccinate for measles without checking immunity - which luckily dd has. My advice Mckenzie ? whatever pressure the govt exerts, DO NOT GO FOR THE MMR if you feel it is wrong.Go forthe single vaccines.

jasper - hi! I've been marking exams, in hospital twice (!!) with kidney stones related to pregnancy, getting ready for a tourist board inspection of our holiday cottages (today!! thank goodness its over!) and generally running around like a fly with a blue bottom! I do try to look in when I get a chance. Thanks for asking!

nice to have you back. I was talking about you to a friend recently who was considering the mirena coil

More single-vaccine questions from me, I'm afraid. Really need some advice. The NCSC - is it true lots of single-vacc clinics are awaiting registration? The one I was thinking of using is not yet registered. Should I choose one that is registered, given the NCSC was only set up last year? Also, their measles vaccine comes from France - does this mean it is fully tested and OK. I just am in turmoil (what parent isn't?!) Any help appreciated. Dinny

Donnie, too right about that Hib vaccine. Imagine if that had happened in the private sector!

Also Jimjams, remember the tanks at Heathrow? Pure propaganda.

oh Aloha gthe govt crap just makes me laugh these days. I was recently sent a copy of the All Party Parliamenetary Group on Autism manifeso. As part of that it says "The physisological symptoms associated with autism, for example sleep disorders, sensory dysfunction or GASTROINTESITNAL DOSORDERS, will be widely recognised and people with autism wil receive medical care and interventions appropriate to their needs from porfessionals trained in an understanding of autism"

That wouldn't be the GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS described by Andy Wakefield would it? Oh no silly me how could it be after all MMR damage doesn't exist.

I don't know how Tony Blair sleeps at night.

BTW for anyone intersted in Andy Wakefield's current work (he's still well respected in the States) a charity ha sbeen established run by him which carries out work in the UK. Europe, Japan and the USA. Their website is : www.visceral.org.uk