1st MMR Vacination, is it safe?

[kryss]

I thought this might be interesting too.

When I'm given the choice I'll definitely let my kids have the MMR shot.

[abigsmurf]

Also, they are (live, attenuated) viruses, not bacteria.

Of course that opens up the whole debate on if you can class a virus without a host cell as living or not :P

But back on the subject the whole MMR thing annoys me because these are diseases we are capable of making extinct like we almost did for small pox (before they started growing it in labs. If that ever gets out, we'll be in deep ****. A deadly, highly infectious disease and 2 un-vaccinated generations with almost no anti-bodies)

[Stormtec]

Of course that opens up the whole debate on if you can class a virus without a host cell as living or not :P

But back on the subject the whole MMR thing annoys me because these are diseases we are capable of making extinct like we almost did for small pox (before they started growing it in labs. If that ever gets out, we'll be in deep ****. A deadly, highly infectious disease and 2 un-vaccinated generations with almost no anti-bodies)

If I'm not mistaken, aren't the lung fibroblast cells used in the vaccine there for the viruses to inhabit? Though I have to be honest that I don't know for sure, just what seems to make sense from looking at the ingredients =)

And, ditto on the small pox thing.

[Brats]

We didn't bother with our daughter. It wasn't because of the scare of autism (because my friend is a Doctor at the Royal Free where the dodgy 'reserach' took place and he rubbished it before the papers were discredited) but because there are studies into vaccines which show strange results.

No one can say for sure that vaccines don't cause issues. There is an alarming increase in eczema and asthma sufferers in recent years, but no-one knows why. The timelines though do run in course with increases in vaccinations. There are loads of other unexplained phenomina (like why people who a rare condition and can generate no antibodies can still fight off viruses as well as the rest of us).

Fundamentally though vaccines 'mess' with nature. I'm not trying to be alarmist, but it's strange that many people are against GM crops and yet the concept of vaccines isn't a million miles away from it.

But the main reason we didn't bother is because Measles, Mumps and Rubella are NOT dangerous diseases to children. It is true that a tiny, tiny number suffer long term illness or die, but what isn't told by the Doctors is that these are the children with additional complications anyway (the mortality rate of measles is 0.3% which is less than the number of children with long term illnesses of other kinds). If your child is fit and healthy, you have nothing to fear from these viruses save for a few days discomfort and maybe the squits.

When I was a kid there was no MMR. We caught measles and no-one worried whether we would die. This fear about measles is just rubbish.

In the US they innoculate children from Chicken Pox, yet here we regard that as a fairly innocent virus. it just shows that different cultures view illnesses in different ways.

[alf]

My five year old daughter has had both injections and everything was fine.

The Health Visitor who gave the first injection said that the main side effect may be a slight temperature about a week after it was given. She forgot to mention that around 5% of children will have an immediate reaction and my daughter's temperature went through the roof and was over 40 degrees C within the hour. It only lasted for a day or so but was a bit of a scare at the time.

So I'd make sure you had some Nurofen and Calpol in just in case.

Incidentally, when she had the second injection at age three and a half, she had no side effects whatsoever.

[NekoFever]

It was never unsafe, I believe the papers claiming links to autism were discredited. You don't see that in the media though.

This. It was one report linking the two, and of course the media ran with it, and when it was discredited by the entire medical community there was almost no reporting of it. That would make it look like the papers don't know what they're talking about!

A child is far more at risk from getting diseases that were almost eradicated before idiot parents stopped immunising their children, which is why we're seeing frequent outbreaks. (Just search the BBC site for 'measles' to see how often it happens now.)

[EJG1980]

Everyone these days thinks they're an expert. They read half a web page about something, see a sensationalist report in the newspaper, and suddenly they think they know better than professionals who've trained for years to acquire their knowledge.

[TheBlackLodge]

Had mumps as a kid. Didn't really enjoy it to be honest. The time off school was nice though.......

Edit: Also had measles and german measles. Can't remember much about them though as it was about 26 years ago......

[Brats]

A child is far more at risk from getting diseases that were almost eradicated before idiot parents stopped immunising their children, which is why we're seeing frequent outbreaks. (Just search the BBC site for 'measles' to see how often it happens now.)

As one of these 'idiot parents' who didn't immunise their child, my point is that prior to the MMR vaccine being available, an outbreak of measles wouldn't have made the local paper, let alone the national news. No-one gave a stuff. because it was never thought of as being particuarly dangerous.

It is dangerous in countries where sanitation is very poor, because if caught with another illness, the effects can be bad.

This issue has become one about trust of medical science, rather than the actual risks.

[NekoFever]

My apologies if you took offence, but measles can be very dangerous, particularly as it often leaves the way open for pneumonia, not to mention that it has that great combination of being generally unpleasant and highly infectious.

The stupidity remark was more aimed at parents who think that it leads to autism when that link was never proven and has since been discredited. I blame our unaccountable media as much as anything.

[Dirty Sanchez]

Mine have.

Would I risk them not having TB jabs or Tetanus, to name but two. Not on your life.

When I start thinking about relying on luck or rubbing plants on them or uses leeches it's time to check me into the crazy house.

[Rick]

mine is having everything.

Why would i want to inflict having a disease on him if i can prevent it?

[TheBlackLodge]

My apologies if you took offence, but measles can be very dangerous, particularly as it often leaves the way open for pneumonia

Had that as well. Really not fun. One of the most unfunnest things I've had actually.....

[Finsbury Girl]

Both of my kids had both jabs - no detrimental longterm effects as far as I can gather (they had the usual slight fever and temp for a day or two but that was all).

[cavalcade]

No one can say for sure that vaccines don't cause issues. There is an alarming increase in eczema and asthma sufferers in recent years, but no-one knows why.

Why do you automatically associate it with vaccines then? What about a decline in breastfeeding rates? Overuse of antibiotics? GM crops? The end of "Wogan" on the BBC? The failure of the Dreamcast?

Science is a good thing. Science is the reason we're all posting on a videogames forum, via the miracle of the Internet, and not sitting in a cave daubing the walls with our own faeces. The Daily Mail et al, and the promotion of flawed, non-peer reviewed "scientific research" as news is one of the most dangerous threats to modern society. Never listen to a journalist with most likely 2 GCSEs and a BA in creative writing about anything more technical than an article on the latest Hollywood film premiere. I'm not saying anyone should blindly "trust medical science" - clearly large pharma companies have profits at the top of the agenda, not your personal well-being - as with everything - learn skepticism, critical thinking, and do your own research.