Decision to be made

maverickangel

I think you need to do what you think is in your child's best interests. The money is really a side issue.

I pay for my children to have all their vaccinations privately. Not because of the MMR scare, but because I'm not keen on four or five toxins being administered in one go, I wasn't keen that my child be vaccinated as young as the NHS regime commences and various other reasons.

It's not cheap, but it gives me peace of mind as I feel I'm doing the right thing for my children, which is the important thing.

If there is the least doubt in your mind that the MMR is more risky than single vaccinations, for whatever reason, then I would say go for the single ones.

You are obviously a sensible, caring parent who is anxious to do the best thing for their LO and are thinking carefully about what is an important decision.

benood

All our 3 had the MMR with no ill effects and our 4th will be off for it when it's due. I would advise that whatever you decide don't leave them unvaccinated, measles in particular can be a life threatening illness.

Also by vaccinating you are helping to provide herd immunity to the population - if for whatever reason you or your children were to become immune compromised - cancer for instance then you will really value herd immunity as your body loses the ability to fight off this sort of infection (even if you've been previously vaccinated).

We had already had our eldest vaccinated before our second was diagnosed with leukemia but it did make the decision a no brainer for the others - ours all are immunised against chicken pox too now!

mrcow

I gave my eldest separate jabs first, but he had an MMR booster and my two youngest by had the MMR at 15 months.

The point that swayed my opinion on it when I was looking into things was that in Japan, (the only developed country I could find who doesn't have the MMR) the rates of autism are exactly the same as as any given countries that do have the MMR.

maverickangel

benood wrote: »

All our 3 had the MMR with no ill effects and our 4th will be off for it when it's due. I would advise that whatever you decide don't leave them unvaccinated, measles in particular can be a life threatening illness.

Also by vaccinating you are helping to provide herd immunity to the population - if for whatever reason you or your children were to become immune compromised - cancer for instance then you will really value herd immunity as your body loses the ability to fight off this sort of infection (even if you've been previously vaccinated).

We had already had our eldest vaccinated before our second was diagnosed with leukemia but it did make the decision a no brainer for the others - ours all are immunised against chicken pox too now!

I would completely agree that the worst option is to leave children unvaccinated.

The GP who does my vaccinations, who is, I believe, quite highly regarded as knowledgable on vaccine issues, has always said that they would recommend that children were given single vaccinations, but would definitely advocate a combined vaccine like MMR against no vaccine at all.

With the increasing globalisation of society and so many people taking trips abroad, immigration and so on, many diseases which were previously irradicated in the UK are making a come back. It's sensible to protect your child against them, surely?

moneysaving_pharmacist

There is no evidence that MMR is linked with autism. For some background look at
http://www.badscience.net/category/mmr/
http://www.google.com/custom?domains=nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com&q=mmr&sitesearch=nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com&sa=Search&client=pub-0424237846929948&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A1&hl=en

alm721

Tempered with that though, I think the MMR may not be the complete cause of autism but in those who already have a genetic risk of autism, it somehow switches the gene on.[/quote]

I absolutly agree. I really think that for the vast majority of children the MMR is safe and cause no problems. However, I also belive that there are a small minority of children who for whatever reason are suseptible to complications from it.

Have to say your story sounds very much like my brother who also has bowel problems as well as being autistic. My mum is convinced it was the MMR and subsequently does not want my son to have it. (Hes due it right now).

He will not be having the MMR however Im still debating as to whether the single jabs are the way to go.

Can I ask did you children have any other health issues such as food allergies/ weakend immue systems etc before or after the vaccinations?
(Hope thats not to personal feel free to not answer)

sparklygirl1

WOW where you going for this injectio? Our daughter had hers private last year £50 registration and £90 per injection.......

beer_tins

Until I see a study comparing the number of kids on "single" vaccines that develop autism vs. the number that develop it on MMR, I'll trust the MMR. There hasn't been any study done to look into autism rates in the first category AFAIK.

Only you can decide though. I'm personally not convinced that should there be a link, that this wouldn't be just as likely to be triggered by one of the "single" vaccines.

Danni

Though I disagree that the MMR causes autism (and personally don't think of autism as bad, though I'm biased as I'm autistic) if you are that worried about it go for the single jabs. The worst thing you could do is leave your baby unvaccinated- measles can kill, autism doesn't.

newbienortherner

It's entirely up to you how you spend your money, however I gave both of my children the MMR vaccine after a long discussion with my well informed GP. She explained that the symptoms of autism usually start to manifest at between 12- 18 months (i.e roughly the same time as the MMR vaccine) this manifestation happens at this time in vaccinated chidren and unvaccinated children. If you, therefore, look at the percentages, the chance is that a least some autistic children will first start to display symptoms at roughly the same time as they have the MMR jab. This does not, however, meant the two things are related, just that they can coincide in the child's timeline of development.

I know you are not looking for medical advice and I understand there is no price on a child's health and your own peace of mind but please be aware that measles, mumps and rubella can have pretty horrible effects on either the children themselves or those who are vulnerable around them. There is always a chance when having the single jabs that your child could be exposed to one of these diseases between jabs.
I think that would worry me more, based on the medical evidence. Good luck with whatever you choose.