MMR Jabs

[Meh]

Has anybody gone private and had the triple injections as opposed the the single MMR injection? Adam is due his and we've decided to go private.

1. I'm not convinced the jabs are totally safe. The amount of stress placed on the immune system is intense which can lead to complications. The doctor mentioned there were problems with certain strains but the latest strain is considered totally safe. However, I have a friend whose daughter is autistic. He is convinced that the cause was the MMR jab as her behaviour changed within a week of having the jab.

2. I don't trust anything the Govt says. There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. If the Govt was truly about choice then they would give parents the right to choose what jabs to give. The other issue is that the Govt admitted MMR caused the death of a child in the 80s (http://www.jabs.org.uk/pages/main.html)

The private clinic are charging £300 for the jabs, with a wait of 6-8 weeks between each jab.

[Siobhan]

Rimmer... MMR jab doesn't give the child autism, it triggers it off but it has to be already there. I got MMR (3 in 1) on both my kids, all mothers I know have done the same and nothing wrong with any of my niece or nephews...
Autism has to already in the childs genes for it to react. I think it is completely safe but if you are concerned than it is probably best for you to do individual jabs

[Jojo]

All of mine had the triple vaccine - did Adam have the jabs at 2/3 and 4 months. To me, personally, they put far more onto the system than the MMR tbh.

Everyone has their views on this, but I know people with autistic children, none of whom "blame" the MMR. Autisim generally "shows" at the same age as when the MMR is given, thereby creating the link. Plus autism has only been a diagnosed "condition" in more recent years along with ADHD etc which is why I think that numbers have risen so sharply thereby creating the link with the MMR.

However, these are my personal views - 3 children who have had the MMR and all other jabs and another one here now that will also have it, none of whom have been affected - I'd far prefer the MMR over the illnesses any day, especially with the side effects that can occur from them.

But, if you feel its in any way unsafe, then you should go for individual jabs.

[Abi]

I had the triple MMR jab when i was a baby, and i've had no side effects of it to date. All of my friends have as well, who are all 17/18 years old, and no one i know has got Austism as a result of it. Or any other illness, come to think of it. I would have expected to have known at least 1 person with a problem, after 18 years, if there was a major problem with the triple jab. Thats just my experience though. Its your children's health, you dont want to mess with it. If you dont feel safe with giving them it, then opt for the single jabs. £300 isn't much to pay for their health.

[Trinity]

My boys have both had the MMR.

I had both measles and mumps at the age of 5 and suffer from bilateral neurosensory deafness as a result. (I am 80% deaf in both ears)

My brother in law had seperate jabs for his first child - however you are talking about a whole load of injections. You could easily put Adam off doctors for life.

As previously mentioned autism is first noticable at around 18 months and as this is the age that the MMR is administered a lot of people made a spurious connection. The research done in this area linking the two has been discredited by more than the government, and all recently published peer reviewed research has failed to find a link.

[Chloe O'brien]

I wish the MMR was available when I was a child I contacted the measels when I was 3 and it affected my eyesight. I am behind the triple vaccine 100% Marley had the triple and so has my nephew and neices and there has been no side affects from any of them and the youngest is now 18. In my opinion doctors and so-called experts who try and encourage parents to opt for the single vaccination are just scaremongering parents, especially first time parents.

We british should be bloody grateful that there is a free NHS that will vaccinated our children as there is other countries in the world crying out for a fight against diseases. That is one of the reasons why there is a return of dieseases like mumps, measels and scarlett fever it's because parents living in Britain are not getting their children properly vaccinated and if they go abroad or visitors come to the UK to live or for a holiday and they are not vaccinated they are spreading the germs.

If you want to spend all that Money on vaccinations for Adam then it's your call but I honestly don't think you have anything to worry about with the triple vaccine.

[noeyedeer]

For 99.99% of children the MMR jab is fine.

My youngest child fell into the 0.01%. Nothing anyone can every say will ever convince me that the MMR jab didn't cause my child to develop Autism.

My child is 12 years old and at the time he had the jab, MMR wasn't in the news, so we put our trust in what the doctors were telling us.

If you can afford it I strongly suggest you have the single jabs.

[Abigail]

Like Trinity said, there is no credible evidence that suggests MMR and Autism are linked. The first paper that was produced in 1998 did not state a link between MMR and Autism, it was the press that created that impression. Lots of independent experts in the past nine years have also said there is no connection.

A wait of 6 - 8 weeks between each jab would mean your child will be waiting ten months for the last jab as each seperate component needs two vaccinations to be 99% immunised. That's ten months in which your child could catch one of the three diseases, all of which can be nasty. You will also have to go through 6 lots of side effects as opposed to two with the combined vaccine.

Personally, I'd have the combined vaccine for my child and take the risk of autism then wait ten months for the single vaccines and risk the diseases. My sister contracted measles before she had the vaccination and she was seriously ill. She was in hospital for a few months and she still has regulary recurring bouts of pneumonia as a result. She also has very mild learning difficulties.

At the end of the day though, it's up to you if you want to go for the single vaccines.

[Trinity]

Well - this has been an interesting straw poll:

1 person believes that there is a 0.01% chance that the MMR will cause you problems (I am not deriding the absolute problems that autism causes.)

3 people have proven problems caused by measles and mumps - deafness, poor eye sight and ill health.

In addition measles can kill.

[Katy]

I had the MMR i never really was aware of the bad effects it could have until it was on the news. I think there is a really small minority where it could go wrong. But theres that risk with everything.

[Abigail]

This is a paper written last year that used the exact same techniques that were used in the 1998 paper that indicated (but did not say specifically) that there was a link. The study has found that there is no link between MMR and autism. http://www.mmrthefacts.nhs.uk/news/newsitem.php?id=113

To paraphrase: No sample from either autism spectrum disorder or control groups was found to contain nucleic acids from any measles virus gene. This means that none of the cells in the bodies of either group contained the virus after contraction thus there is no evidence to suggest that the virus stays in the body and makes something happen.

[Chloe O'brien]

As I believe there is no scientific link between the MMR and Autism. In my opinion the so-called do-gooder experts who have reported these findings have no children, they are just trying to scaremonger parents.

I only have 1 child and she has been fully vaccinated but whether I had 1 or or 10 they would be all be fully vaccinated as I grew up in an enviroment where vaccination against diesease was not available when I was a child and it affect me. I would not want any of my children to go through what I went through. At the end of the day it's only a small injection that children have to get and the most important thing to remember is prevention is better than cure.