Quick straw poll.....please read

[alexsmum]

I have to make a decision by tomorrow on whether or not to give my son the mmr jab.
My gut instinct is not to.His father wants him to have it.

SO ...what do you think?

yes or no?

[trinityrocks]

I gave all immunisations to my DD when they were offered and I will do so again with "Bump" but it really is a personal decision.
Personally I am pro people getting there children immunised as the only reason that we aren't overrun with measles, mumps and rubella etc is because of the immunisations...............
The tiny risk of autism is alot less frightening than the deaths that can occur from the other diseases........
You really have to look at all information and decide for yourself.
Don't decide from a straw poll, make sure it is YOUR decision

[SoupDragon]

You say your DS1 had singles, is there any reason you're not going down this route again?

FWIW, my DS1 had his at 13 months but I delayed DS2 until he was 18 months or so.. DS1 has not yet had his booster and he's just turned 6 (might do it this summer)

[KarenThirl]

Even though ds has just been diagnosed with Aspergers, I'd still have given the MMR. AS isn't a fatal condition and can be managed, whereas the diseases which are protected by MMR can be. I personally didn't feel that I could have chosen any differently.

[dropinthe]

Yes!

[Jimjams]

AS is different from full blown autism though. With AS you expect your child to grow up, live independtly and have a good chance of getting married/holding down a job (although both are harder than for someone who is NT obviously). In the case of severe autism your child will never do any of those things and will quite possibly never even talk.

And for me the quite possibly quite large risk of autism is far scarier than the very tiny risk that my children will die from any of these diseases (especailly in the case of MMR where you are talkig childhood illnesses that all children pre our generation were exposed to- that's a long time for natural selection to work and is one reason why western communities are generally well able to deal with measles - add in good nutrition and their chances of dealing with mealses increases.

That's why you have to look at each family individualy the risk factors will be different in each family, so although the chance of a severe adverse reaction which would leave your child unable to live independently is small it will be much higher for some children than others.

[ghosty]

Alexsmum ... I feel for you I really do ...
I am in that 'do I or don't I' place too with DD (13 months)... and these decisions can't be taken lightly.
DS is fully immunised .... from baby jabs through MMR to the very much pushed Meningitis B vax that they are currently doing in NZ ... He is a perfectly healthy 5 year old ... no probs.
DD had her baby jabs with no bother but at 7 months had her first MenB jab (1st of 3) and she reacted terribly ... (the NZ MenB jab has been a rushed vax due to hysteria about a Meningitis epidemic in NZ). I chose for her not to finish the course.
I have just come back from a talk by a leading NZ paed who is in full favour of Immunisation and I was lucky enough to have a chat with her. She advised me NOT to go through with DD's MenB vax as she is clearly one of the few who have an adverse reaction. She then advised me to go through with the MMR when DD is 15 months and 'cross your fingers' ...
WTF????? Cross my fingers??? What does that mean??
No closer to a decision at all so I am going to wait .... I know that at some point I will come to a decision that will feel right.
Good luck ...
PS ... hello Jimjams

[ghosty]

At the moment I am veering on the side of "no" as I won't have to do the 'cross my fingers' bit ... how would I live with myself if DD has shown signs of reacting to a vaccine already and then something happens after MMR??
But then what if she gets measles followed by encephalitis ........
AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH
Sorry, not helping you am I?

[yoyo]

Jimjams - how would a family history of autoimmunity present itself?

[sacha3taylor]

yes, i gave it to dd and ds and ds2 is due to have it in a few months and he will have it as well.

[Jimjams]

IME the children who regress following MMR tend to regress quite severely (non verbal poo smearing type). It comes down to Davros's type 1 and type 2 autism types I think.

[Jimjams]

hi ghosty DS1 loved your washing machines

Yoyo in our case autoimmunity runs through dh's side. Type 1 diabetes, MS, gout, all in close relatives. Add in severe eczema and asthma and it's quite a pattern.

Davros and I have noticed (completely unscientifically but independently) there seems to be 2 types of families with autism. One type (type 1 I think) seems to have a family history of a lot of weird uncles who collected picture of telegraph poles and were clearly undxed aspies, whilst type 2 appear to have no autism in the family but be choc a block with autoimmune conditions. these children tend to be more likely to react to vaccinations, are more likely to show regressive autism (certainly true of ds1) and are often severely affected. They also often respond well to Biological intervention- gluten and casein free diets for example, whereas these seem to have no effect on type1's.

Could be nothing in it but as a general rule it seems to work. Always exceptions of course.

[handlemecarefully]

YES

[anchovies]

Jimjams, my brother has aspergers and has no chance of ever living independantly let alone holding down a job or getting married etc.

He has always had bowel problems, allergies etc so we are finding the mmr decision very difficult ourselves.

[flamesparrow]

Yes

[anchovies]

Having said that we definitely fall into the type 1 weird uncle category so may be nothing to worry about!!

(interesting theory by the way!)

[CountessDracula]

yoyo our family history of autoimmune stuff - I have Crohn's Disease, mild asthma and eczema. My brother has asthma and eczema.

I spoke to an immunologist friend, plus another one on the phone (no names) both of whom said if it was their child with my family history they wouldn't give mmr.

When we went to see a consultant immunologist on the NHS to discuss officially, all we got was the party line, ie there is no danger, it is up to you, we can't advise you. Bloody useless, no proper info or discussion, just stonewalling. That made my mind up for me finally - if they can't have an objective discussion and let me have all the facts then they must be unsure.

[Jimjams]

Well AS is a spectrum in itself of course. I was just responsing to karen's message about AS being a condition that can be managed (sometimes can sometimes can't). DS1's condition isn't manageable- not in terms of giving him an independent life anyway.

INteresting CD. Glad to hear the immunologists said that as it's what I've thought but never heard officially.

[NomDePlume]

I did. DD is fine (now 2.7y). DH & 1st wife did, both their boys are fine (now 12 & 11)

[NomDePlume]

I did. DD is fine (now 2.7y). DH & 1st wife did, both their boys are fine (now 12 & 11)

[CountessDracula]

lockets, of course that was only the opinion of 2 people, they may not be right!

I just felt happier all round with singles.

In fact, it is measles jab in general not just mmr that is implicated in Crohn's. However with the take-up rate being so low for mmr I was concerned about dd getting measles so decided to immunise her anyway, fingers crossed.

[CountessDracula]

Ah so she only needed the mumps jab!