British Expatriate Network

As a parent of three children the question of immunisation was questioned and we decided to get the children immunised for the recommended doses in the UK. I have found at times that I have not been as keen to do so in the US and try and pick and choose more carefully.

I have also followed a little bit the concerns of parents regarding the effects of immunisations on our children and the brain damage that supposedly does not happen from the huge amounts these little bodies take in. So even though we did get our children immunised I certainly don't blame those parents who choose not to.

Well, the BBC today is reporting an increase in the number of measles cases

http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6970525.stm

and I found it interesting reading. I always knew measles was one of the worst ones for kids to get because of the deaths and physical damage to hearing and sight etc. However, not thinking as a parent but on the statistical point, I was surprised that in past decades when measles was a much bigger problem there were only 20 deaths a year. Now, I know that if you are the parent the death of a child is the most devastating issue you will ever have to cope with and I am certainly not belittling this in any way. However, when the rise in autism continues to grow and the denial of brain damage coming from past immunisations even though payouts have been given to the sufferers, what is more important - life, or quality of life? Living with an severely autistic child is difficult at the best of times, and the numbers are rising.

Also, I couldn't help thinking while I was reading this article that it kept talking of the increase in measles cases but not of the other two, even though this is a triple cocktail. And I started considering the issue of what we really should be immunising our children against. girls were immunised against rubella at 11 when I was in school. How come that is not good enough anymore? And apart from the problems in males with mumps, what other issues are caused by those children who contract it?

I think this topic is a tough one and something all parents have to face. Do you or don't you immunise. Are we actually hurting our children by immunising them against everything?

I never had any immunisations as a child cos daddy got polio from a jab.
I'm now a certified measles carrier.
I have had all the necessary in order to get into foriegn countries, but I remember when I was 12 having changed schools, the nurse wouldn't listen and insisted I take the polio booster on a sugar lump. Result, 12 weeks in bed, fevers, doctors, isolation, it was effing horrible.
I think immunisations are probably a good thing, but if I had a child, they'd have the jabs one by one, none of this bundling stuff, I think that's where the problem lies.

I have to be honest, I despair sometimes. I have not seen a shred of evidence that MMR (the 'bundled' jab) causes harm, specifically autism. I havd seen considerable evidence that it does not.

Last I heard, the English doctor who made this claim was under investigation for falsify evidence and other improper practices in his research.

Meantime, the panic his claims caused has led directly to an increase in the number of measles cases - something which is known to be harmful.

Each parent has to make there own decision, but please do some research and don't believe the hysteria. That's what we did and both ours little wonders got the MMR.

I take your point Rob, but as with all things medical, one size does not fit all. If i had a kid I would be willing to pay for the jabs separately. We don't all have the best genes in the world and it's best to do some things one by one in case of problems.

I always remember going down to the US embassey in London and telling the doctor, "see I have had all this checked and I am ok", Looks at it and says yep you are ok, but you missed one so thats 59 pounds for your MMR lol

When in the RAF, 1955, National Service, they mixed all our jabs together in one dose to save time !!
The whole squadron was down sick, some of us were in great pain~devastating I call It.
And from what I read they were doing this for years before we had it done to us.
I wonder if HMForces are still doing it.

In the RE, we lined up and they hit us with left arm, right arm, and left again, this time with the triple against the diseases of the orient. That last one was the one that made the lymph nodes swell and the arms feel that they would fall off.

They always did it on a Friday afternoon, so we would be sick on our own time.

As was said in a earlier post one size does not fit all .
it should be up to the parents to decide if the infant has one jab (for all ills ) or chooses to have them individually