MMR

[JenRose]

R is supposed to be having her MMR tomorrow.

Last week her Consultant asked me why she hadnt had it and i told him that i was concerned about the link between ASD and MMR and that given that ASD runs through my family i wanted to be careful.

 

I asked about single vaccinations but he said he couldnt do them as they are not licenced.

 

We have cancelled the appointment tomorrow as i cant make up my mind.

 

I DO want her to have the MMR but i,d rather she had it with single injections.

 

I was wondering if anyone knew of any clinics specialising in single vaccinations, im in the northwest of the UK, and if anyone had any advice/experiences.

 

Thanks

[lainey]

direct health 2000 do them, web site will tell you when near your area, i know there in liverpool sunday coming, needles are about 90 each i was also wary about giving the baby mmr after my other son

[MichelleW]

I can only say that my 2 year old won't be having any further vaccinations (he hasn't had the mmr or single mumps, measles or rubella) Looking at the number of incidents of measles in the uk over the last few years (info available online), the chances of catching it is low, and the chances of getting a bad reaction from the 'real' virus is even lower. I compared that risk with the (as far as I'm concerned, higher) risk of developing autism or regression of undiagnosed autism if he was given the mmr jab. Mumps is only a problem in boys during or after puberty, so I'd rather he caught mumps naturally and if he hasn't had it by 8 or 9 then I'll have him vaccinated privately. I looked into private clinics in the south east and and also contacted my GP and practice manager. The practice manager said they couldn't get a licence to administer the single vaccines, but I have found out that private doctors can get licences to administer 'holiday' vaccines that the NHS doctors won't do. I'm sure GPs can apply for the licence - I just don't think it is worth their while. I even offered to pay for the vaccines - but the practice manager didn't even know where to get the vaccines from!! Yet they must be available if the private clinics can get the vaccines.

 

Anyway, this is just my opinion. I also think that the human body isn't designed to fight more than one virus at a time - and in nature, I don't believe a person can get more than one virus at a time because of the bodies natural defence system.

 

With my first child I was naive and just went along with what the doctors suggested. I wish I hadn't let my eldest child have the mmr at 18 months and the pre-school booster. Even though he was possibly showing some signs of autism before the mmr, there was a definite reaction to the jab (severe measles rash and fever) folllowed by regression of speech and severe constipation which got worse after the pre-school booster.

[elun1]

My youngest ds has had first mmr but I will never let him have any more. Looking at video of him before and afetr vacc is ineteresting. he did show some signs of autism but just days after mmr he seemed to become completely spaced out and he has never regained some of the skills he had before. I really don't know if it's just coincidence but he did seem tgo regress so to me it's just not worth the risk. I now keep getting letters for him to attend surgery to have other boosters e.g. polio. tetanus and I think there are some others. I really don't want him to ever have another vaccination in his life but I must admit I don't really know how well protected he is at the moment

Elun xx

[LizK]

I am dubious of the link between MMR and ASD though do wonder if in a small group of children the vaccination brings out an autistic tendency that would have presented later. Both my children have had the MMR and it has not made a blind bit of difference to Adam's autism. I did wait until they were over 18mths though before being vaccianted. DS2 was nearly two. I was particularly concerned about measles which is on the increase and has been several outbreaks locally with some very poorly children. I'm not sure there is much evidence that single jabs are less likely to cause problems than the triple. I know 2 familes IRL who had the single jabs and children still ended up with ASD so that detered me from that option. It was either MMR or nothing for us and on balance I wanted them protecting against the MMR illnesses.

 

So I think your decision is MMR vs singles vs no vaccination. You have to make whatever decision you feel most comfortable with irregardless of what anyone else might have done. It is so hard, I remember angsting over it because whatever decision you make there is going to be some degree risk of something or other and that I think is what makes it difficult. Damned if you do, damned if you don't was how I felt when I was procrastinating over getting DS2 done. Guess you've got to go with your guts! Good luck

 

Lx

[ellisisamazing]

direct health 2000 do them, web site will tell you when near your area, i know there in liverpool sunday coming, needles are about 90 each i was also wary about giving the baby mmr after my other son

 

 

We had to contact this company, it is approx �90 per injection.

 

But I feel that we ALL should be able to have it done for free as Parents who have another child with ASD, it is such a dilemma. Nobody really understands the fears and doubts unless you're the parent, IMO.

[badonkadonk]

I understand the fears and doubts and I'm not a parent.

 

I'm no expert at MMR or anything like that so I'm not replying just to tell you you're wrong. Who knows, there is no conclusive research either way just yet and it certainly could be true that the jab has some effect. I don't believe it myself because I never had an MMR and I'm Aspergers and there are plenty of other autistic adults who never had the combined injections either. I've also had a lot of the major problems that the jab protects against, bar Rubella, and I wouldn't say it was the most pleasant experience.

 

The trouble is the age of diagnosis for kids with ASD because a lot of the time you simply cannot tell because babies are weird anyway. They cry for no reason and play in their own worlds and do things entirely differently to how we do things when we are older so how are you supposed to tell that they are displaying autistic 'tendancies'? Obviously in kids who are more progressively autistic are going to display earlier but for those with aspergers I don't think it's easy to tell at all until we start developing our social side and own independant routines. (I hope this is making sense) So it could also be a case of your kid getting older and displaying more differences rather than reacting to the injections. Again I'm not trying to thrust this point of view on anyone or say it's right, it's just the other side of the coin.

 

Alot of my illnesses happened before I was six or seven. I know I had some injections, Rubella for sure and I'm almost positive I had Measles and Mumps too but I can't say for sure. Regardless I had Measles once, Mumps once, Chicken Pox twice (it's a myth it only happens once), laryngitis and an unknown virus all in those first few years. Combine this with the fact that I used to get tonsellitis (or however it's spelt ) once a month until they finally got rid of them when I was five and my first few years weren't all that great.

 

Around aged seven I got Viral Meningitis. Not actual Meningitis but its more common virus, still nasty enough to stick you in hospital for a couple of days and knock you about.

 

All of this has had not the greatest affect on my immune system but the point is my immune system was already ###### anyway because I'm Aspergers and was a very premature baby. I think this is why a lot of Aspies and Auties have problems with illness is because a lot of us were early babies and my personal way of thinking is that we just didn't have time to develop things like our immune system and our senses to the point that most normal term babies do. Whether being born early affects how we are wired in the brain who knows, though I think that's probably already pre-determined by the genetic lottery anyway, but I definately think being premature is the reason I was such a sickly child.

 

Anyway just thought I would stick my own opinion in here, good luck with your decision!

 

Emily

xxx