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MMR or Measles, Mumps, Rubella
Hi I'm BelindaI'm your community manager at The Patients Voice.
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Over the last ten years there has been a huge amount of discussion about the rights and wrongs of the combined vaccination for immunization against Measles, Mumps and Rubella, which more often is referred to as MMR shots.What’s your Experience with the Combined Vaccine?
After the Wakefield report of 1998 there was a huge amount of controversy regarding the use of MMR vaccinations.
For more information on MMR and the controversy please have a look at the relevant Wikipedia entry here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine_controversy#The_MMR_controversy
We are running the ResBlog because we are interested in the opinions and experiences of parents/carers of children who were offered the vaccination.
In particular we are interested in exploring the following questions:-
• How do you think Healthcare Professionals should portray the advantages and/or disadvantages of the vaccination?
Thanks very much in advance for your help. Please feel free to check back on the blog to see what others have said and perhaps contribute further thoughts.To participate all you need to do is type a nickname of your choice and then put your comments into the box. Your comments are anonymous of course!I look forward to reading your comments and, of course, thank you very much for your input.Best wishesBelinda
PS: Please feel free to share this blog with anyone who you think might find it of interest.
Loraine | 14/05/2007 14:26:00
my 2 girls have had the commbined vaccine and have had no side affects boths girls were great afterwoods.
claire2703 | 14/05/2007 14:28:00
I gave both my children the mmr vaccine without any problems.
john marshall | 14/05/2007 14:28:00
i have five kids and each of them had the "MM Rjag".They are all fine and have had no adverse reactions.I think personally the press and other organisations tend to blow things out of proportion.The jag probably isnt full proof,and over time maybe one or two kids may have a bad reaction.This is the same with all medicines,none are full proof.i think we have a health service we should be proud of,it isnt perfect by any means but its ours.we are very lucky compared to some countries who get nothing for their kids,what hapens to the majority is tragic and not to be belittled in anyway,but these things are a sad fact of life.
blueneon | 14/05/2007 14:30:00
All three of my children now aged 4, 6, & 17 years, have all had the combined MMR vaccination. I was asked on all 3 occassions if they were having the triple or single and it was my choice, I was not harrassed into choosing the triple. They have had no side effects from having it and I feel happy that they had it as it protects them from these kinds of diseases.
Em23 | 14/05/2007 14:37:00
Both of my children have had the MMR they had them in 2002 with my first and 2004 with my second. I felt the benefits far outweighed the risks and would recommend it to any parent. Both my children were fine with no side affects at all.
Julie Brannan | 14/05/2007 14:38:00
All 3 of my kids had the combined with no adverse effects. I was only provided with very positive info from my Gp and perhaps not given all points of view, but we take risks with our children on lots of occasions in the hope that the gains outweigh the risks
Glenn | 14/05/2007 14:52:00
After much trepidation, and substantial research we eventually decided to go with the combined MMR innoculation. We had booked to go privately in a Hemel Hempstead clinic however, after discovering that only 2 of the 3 injections were in fact licensed, we weighed this against the potential, and what turned out to be, insignificant risk of combined MMR and opted for the latter. Thankfully our daughter encountered no side effects however, it is also worth noting that the lack of NHS literature from the NHS, and the "hard sell" adopted by health professionals within the NHS are ingredients for the scepticism of the combined MMR jab.
KAS | 14/05/2007 14:53:00
My daughter had all the initial jabs. The MMR was the only one with any reaction and that was a big black lump at the site for around a month. When it came to the second jab, just before school age, I got a bit jumpy about the subject. When I got the appointment through they wanted to give her 6 things in one go. Whilst she was (and is) healthy, I really did not want to put her through that much of an assault on her immune system in one go. So I said no. No one has ever tried to persuade me otherwise, nor did I get any other information. I would add that I also had 2 dogs which had an adverse reaction to some injections and whilst I know they are a different species, it still worried me. My view (after a few years of thought) is that for the most part they are fine, however a very small minority will have a reaction - until they narrow that down so they know who will have a problem, I am being careful. I would probably go for the single vaccine at a time with a reasonable gap between to allow the immune system to cope.
Helen Morris-Oldfield | 14/05/2007 15:01:00
I have six children, i think the last 3 have been eligible for the vaccince and for the elder two of those three I went through with the jabs no problems, however my sixth child, tecnically my seventh was born after I lost her sister to cot death at the age of six weeks, now she never got to have the Jabs but because of research i have read on SIDS I have held off on my youngest having all the Jabs so far
Delighted | 14/05/2007 15:17:00
My two children had the combined jab and are fine. I don't think we ever considered not having them take it. You hear different stories of side effects and the skeptics will always have a louder voice than those who just get on with it. In the end you want the best for your children and we have to trust the voice of the professionals. After all they have done the research. Surely as KAS pointed out, you will always find some degree of reaction in some instances. I don't think you can get away from that; but we should not let the minority cases shadow the positive effects of the MMR.
Paula | 14/05/2007 15:32:00
None of my three children have had the mmr infact my third child who is now 6 months old has yet to have any jabs. I do not dispute that we have excellant health care in the UK, however, not all these jabs are made in the uk, infact many are imported! My family has a history of adverse and even death due to certain innoculations. I have asked on several occassions at my own GP surgery if they would provide the prescriptions which i am quite willing to pay for, could they vaccinate my child seperately. Each time the answer has been NO. I have been given literature telling me of the benefits, however, nothing has been advised for risks. I have been told they understand my trepidation with regards to innoculations, however, if anything goes wrong they can give adrenlin there and then. This does not put my mind at ease. I am now in the process of seeking independant advice for all the innoculations not just the MMR.
liz dabner | 14/05/2007 15:55:00
I have 2 girls - 4 and 7 years old and after reading all the information available on mmr and discussing with my husband we decided that as they were healthy children with no other problems we were happy for them to have the one mmr injection. They were fine!
lyndee | 14/05/2007 16:01:00
I have had 7 children 2 of which were not offered the mmr as it started after they were born,but the other 5 have all had the triple jab.None have had side effects but i must admit with the youngest 2 children aged 5 an 6 i did wait until they were over 2yars old before letting them have the jab,only because of all the panic made by the media with the older children i didnt think twice about letting them have the jab.I think it is up to each parent to make the responsible decision and the right one for their family .
susie 14/05/07 | 14/05/2007 16:07:00
my daughter is now 10 but when she had her mmr all those years ago I felt I was given very little information about the combined vaccine and possible effects thereof. My health visitor at the time basically told me my daughter was booked in for the injection and had little or no time answer any queries I had. I hope this has changed for the better these days, thankfully my daughter suffered no ill effects at all and has grown healthliy.
julie | 14/05/2007 16:11:00
Both my children aged 9 and 5 had the combined jab they suffered no problems.
amanda | 14/05/2007 16:18:00
both of my children boy an girl both had the jab an both are fine no signs of any problems my daughter is 7 so she had hers many years ago an my son is 2 an he is fine as well !
Helen Flanagan | 14/05/2007 17:12:00
My 6 year old Daughter has not had the MMR. I weighed up the pros and cons, carefully, after an adverse reaction to a injection at 2mths we decided not ot go ahead I do worry about Measles, and feel now she is older and more able to cope with it we might now have it. I do feel parents should be offered more choice on single injections and more information which is not MMR biased
alison | 14/05/2007 17:14:00
None of my 2 girls have had they MMR combined vaccine, but they have had all the other appropriate vaccinations. If there is no difference in giving the combined or the separate vaccine then why not give the parents the option of single vaccines? besides the margonal cost
debbie | 14/05/2007 17:26:00
my son is almost 6 years old. he has had all the other jabs apart from the MMR. Everytime he has a Dr appointment, hospital appontment , the Drs & nurses all say the same " he must have the jab" never the offer of information, My son is asthmatic and is ill almost twice a month, and recently has started having toncilitus, we are waiting to see the ENT.. I am not prepard to put my son through the MMR as i have no idea how it would affect his health. i have read up about it on the net, and have found some really horror stories, there were a few good stories to. But until a Dr can confirm to me 100% that there will be no adverse side effects my son wont be having the jab.
Allan Hunter | 14/05/2007 17:41:00
My daughter is now 19 months old. She had the combined MMR injection. She suffeed from no side effects at all afterwards and as far as I can tell is fine. I was happy with the amount and level of information provided before having it done. My Mother is a widwife and I talked to her and our family doctor about it. I never thought about not getting it for her. The NHS is not in the habit of wasting money if they can help it. Why would the government offer the vaccine if it was dangerous to the children getting it.
MELANIE | 14/05/2007 17:43:00
BOTH MY DAUGHTERS HAVE HAD THE COMBINED MMR WITH NO PROBLEMS. LIKE MOST MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN THE SAME AGES 5 & 7 THERE WAS ALOT OF BAD PRESS TO BE READ AT THE TIME AND MY HUSBUND AND I DID DISCUSS IT FOR QUITE A WHILE AND READ UP ON ALL THE PROS AND CONS. WHAT WE DECIDED TO DO IN THE END WAS DELAY THE GAP INBETWEEN ALL THE INFANT JABS. WE ARE SO GLAD WE WENT THE MMR WAY AS FRIENDS WHO HAD THE SINGLE JAB AT ELSTREE THEN HAD REAL PROBLEMS. MY ADVICE IS GO WITH YOUR HEART YOU KNOW YOUR CHILD BETTER THAN ANYONE.
Emma | 14/05/2007 18:52:00
My son had the MMR vaccination and has been fine with it!!
Marion | 14/05/2007 19:47:00
My 2 children have both had the Triple vacination without any problems.I was given the choice but know that was the best for them as the conseqenses of catching the conditions are far worse.I have a medical background so have a bit of knowledge on the subject.
ruth | 14/05/2007 20:41:00
My daughter has had all the jabs except MMR.Nobody offered any imformation so I did my research on the internet.I did have numerous reminders sent through from my GP which resulted in me making an appointment to discuss why I was not protecting my child.I simply did not feel that I wanted my child injected with 3 live viruses in one go. My GP surprisingly agreed and I have not received anymore reminders. I do wish I could have had the option of a single jab though.
Jenny Mahoney | 14/05/2007 21:55:00
My 2 girls, aged 4 3/4 years and 7 1/2 years, both had the MMR jabs with no ill effect. I feel that it is so silly not to give them the protection of immunisation. In the developed world we do not have these illnesses because most of us do immunise. If we were to stop then these diseases would be rife and cause so much death and damage to people.
Sarah | 14/05/2007 22:03:00
My boys age 8 and 7 now both had the combined MMR with no side effects at all. The advice I was given was very good and the options I had which eased a lot of the worries that were going around at the time.
dottydotty | 14/05/2007 22:45:00
Having Crohns disease myself I must admit I did comtemplate having the single injections. But having discussed things with my health visitor and read all the relevant literature which was made available to me both of my children had the MMR jab. They were both fine and had no adverse reactions. They are now 6 and 4 and if I have anymore children I would let them have the MMR without any hesitations.
supergran | 15/05/2007 09:46:00
both my children had the mmr, way back when, and they are both ok. I now raise two of my grandchildren they also had the mmr they are 9 and 10 and have had no problems. I would'nt advice anyone on what to do i think its a matter of personal opinion.
Caron | 15/05/2007 09:52:00
I have three children aged 9, 23 and 25. all have had the triple vaccination and all are fit and well. when my eldest two were babies all the 'hype' was about the whooping cough vaccination, and they both had it without problems (they were a little older before the MMR was available). I'm intrigued to know what the next panic will be about .
Nicks | 15/05/2007 09:56:00
Both of my children have had the mmr, I only worried over my son having it as why does he have to have the rubella, this is a main one for girls. My husband and I discussed the children having the injection as one of my cousin's children was at the time diagnosed with autism not long after having the mmr. He then went on to have measles also. Our theory was that there are obviously dodgy batches out there, but our children need to be protected, we cannot afford for them to have the jab seperately, and both have had no side effects. And if you remember in the 70's there was all they hype over the whooping cough jab, it seems that no injection is without risk or media hype.
Sam | 15/05/2007 09:59:00
My husband and I hesitated a long time as we were getting a hard sell from our health visitor but not much information (just a few leaflets). We did research the internet but it's easy to find pros and cons for MMR. In the end, we decided to go with the MMR jab. My son suffered some side effects such as flu-like symptons and fever but is now as healthy and happy as could be. I would certainly go for the MMR jab again for a healthy child but may hesitate if my child were poorly or asthmatic.
jules | 15/05/2007 10:02:00
my son had the mmr jab with no problems. I have heard that the producers of the single jabs are the ones who did the research on the combined jab and it was them who put the scare about. I think it was money making hype. If I have any more children I would have no qualms in letting them have the combined jab.
Karen | 15/05/2007 10:40:00
My son had the mmr jab at 12 months. It may just have been coincidence but it did seem to lower his immune system for a few months afterwards. As I said, it could be unconnected but if I had to it again it would be 3 separate jabs.
RH | 15/05/2007 10:48:00
My childen are now 12 and 9 and i dont not remember even really thinking about them not having the MMR as it was just one of the routine things that happened as you reached that age. I still believe i would let them have it now, as im sure the chances of having problems from the rising cases of measles would be far more than the chance of something happening from the vaccine.
suz | 15/05/2007 10:53:00
Both my children had this and suffered no reactions at all, i was given a good amount of imformation and anything i wanted to askwas explained in detail. i would recommend this from my experience.
Sadie | 15/05/2007 11:00:00
I had my son injected with the mmr combined jab and have seen no ill effects. Did get bit sniffly afer jab but other than that all ok. Would have no problems about doing it again.
Ian Nicholson | 15/05/2007 11:00:00
I recently attended a training day for biology teachers at Edinburgh University and was interested to hear one of the speakers who gave a lecture on statistics in biology. He mentioned the whooping cough vaccine (as a previous post has) - it carries a known risk and was withdrawn when the risk of damage from the vaccine was almost as great as the risk of damage from whooping cough. Obviously the risk of damage from whooping cough decreased as the disease became rarer due to uptake of vaccine. With MMR there is only very poor evidence of risk which has been blown out of all proportion by irresponislbe journalists. All medicines carry a (minor) risk of side effects, they are licensed if the risk is less than the risk from not taking the medicine. That's certainly true of vaccines. The problem with well-meaning parents deciding not to have the MMR is that we won't achieve herd immunity (the situation where there are so few children capable of carrying the disease that it cannot be passed on). We need to achieve this because no vaccine is 100% effective (which explains another post which mentions an innoculated child developing measles), and younger children have not yet received it so there will always be some unprotected children. That's one reason why the MMR vaccine includes Rubella innoculation for boys. It would be nice to see this kind of reasoned, statistical argument discussed in the media but it seems unlikely as long as we continue to demand that everything is "safe" and there is "no risk" - an impossible demand, everything involves a risk. I don't have a vested interest (I'm a marine biology graduate not a medic) but i became very interested when i had to make a decision on whether to vaccinate my own children. They have both been vaccinated with no ill effects. I have however heard a lot of untruths and misinformation relayed as facts by other parents. having worked with a man whose hearing was severely damaged by measles as a child I know we can't dismiss it is a minor ilness as many parents do when deciding not to vaccinate against it.
Fiona | 15/05/2007 11:15:00
Both my daughter and son had the MMR jab and it was the best thing for them. Having had a bad dose of measles when I was young and lost my hearing through that (measles damaged the nerve endings) I now wear to hearing aids and my hearing deteriorates as the years go by. I did not wish for my own kids to experience the problems that I have encountered.
Karen Bryant | 15/05/2007 11:43:00
I had my daughter vaccinated with this injection and she had no side affects at all.
Nina | 15/05/2007 12:41:00
I have one son who had the combined MMR jab with no side effects at all - I do not remember how much information I was given at the time as it was never an option in my eyes not to let him have it.
Zebedee | 15/05/2007 15:36:00
I have 2 girls, aged 2 1/2 and 4 1/2. I had heard all the hype about the triple jab but wanted to find out the facts. All our surgery could provide was the standard NHS leaflet which says 'have the jab, it's for the best' with no real addressing of the arguments on either side. We felt that the only way to be happy about our decision on MMR for our children was to go back to the original research by Dr Wakefield and see why he raised the speculation about possible side effects, especially autism being 'caused' by the jab. We were able to find the full research paper of Dr Wakefield online, print it off and study its findings. Sadly, this seems to be something that very few people have actually done, just relying on the interpretations of others. We were surprised to find that the sample size Dr Wakefield had studied was very small (just 10 children I recall) and every one of these had a compromised imunity BEFORE they ever had MMR. There was absolutely no evidence that any previously healthy children had been affected by the jab. All of the children studied were already sick. Secondly, we noted that only boys were ever affected. As we have girls we felt there was no problem for us. However, had we had boys we would have come to the same conclusion that MMR is not at fault here, at least no more statistically likely to cause a reaction than any other jab. Interestingly, at the time the report was first publish, Dr Wakefield's private clininc was one of very few supplying the single vaccinations. I find it very hard to rule out the possibility of bias in his studies. Following my research I discussed my findings with my GP and several nurses and health visitors. None of them had read the original report. I found this surprising and disappointing and felt that if they knew as much about it as I did by then they might be able to increase the uptake of the MMR. Following their innoculations just one of my girls had a reaction - about 10 days afterward she had a slight feverishness and small rash which soon passed.
colin hughes | 15/05/2007 17:16:00
my son is 9 now but when he had the mmr jab I asked all the relevant questions and following gp advice allowed him to have it.A friend of mine was having a dilemma at the same time over his daughter's jab and decided not to. In hindsight I feel that mine was the right decision as some of the diseases appear to be on the rise now.
Rod Glen | 15/05/2007 17:44:00
My wife and I accessed Wakefield's original paper plus many of the follow up studies in reputable journals such as Science, BMJ, New England Journal of Medicine. I applied robust statistical analysis techniques (I have a masters degree in analytical science) to papers on both sides of the argument. My conclusion was that Wakefield's study is seriously flawed and his conclusions are not supported bt the evidence. I also assessed the level of risk of not having the combined vaccination against the worst projected risk of having the combined jab. I found the former to be greater than the latter by an extremely significant factor. I bet no tabloid journalist is competent to do that, let alone is diligent enough! Anyway, both my twins have had the combined jab with no ill effects. I am VERY confident we made the correct decision.
Andrea Morrison | 15/05/2007 19:53:00
My twin daughters got the triple jab and had no adverse effects. My teenage son got it when he was older. Having said that I think that the single jabs should be offered routinely for parent's peace of mind, so that all children can be vaccinated and parents won't be forced to gamble with their children's health
Brian & Dilek | 15/05/2007 20:07:00
We discussed the situation about MMR and decided there was no real evidence that it was any worse than any other jabs. Certainly better than no jab .Our son had no reaction or side effects and YES we are lucky. In fact our son reacted more to a BCG with a large painful boil on his arm. absents of any jabs has brought an increase in risk to those children. I understand certain children are more at risk of problems with MMR but should be screened if in doubt.
Denise Roberts | 15/05/2007 20:41:00
I have three sons', they have all had the triple jab. no side effects. I did ask my doctor when my youngest was born about the risk. He said he had had his children vaccinated with the triple jab. If a doctor does his children, then it seems safe enough to allow my children to be done. I know a family that have three children, the eldest had the triple jab, no effects, the youngest (twins) never had jabs, because they where diagnosed with autisum at 3 months. I believe i made the right choice for my children, and i do not believe there is a link between the triple jab and autisum. You make the choice, but the disease that are covered by the jab are nasty and id not wish to let my children suffer them. Nor would i want to watch my boys suffer if they got the diseases'.
J Wilson | 15/05/2007 21:20:00
Both my children had the combined vaccination. I read various information about possible problems but decided that it was far better for them to have it than not. They were both fine, with no ill effects.
sarah | 15/05/2007 23:37:00
my child had this and was fine afterwards.
jane doe | 16/05/2007 00:34:00
i feel that the advantages of the vacine outweigh the disadvantages. my son have the vacine even though there is a history of asthma in the imediate family. he is fine. there's too much scare mongering these days.
judy | 16/05/2007 01:51:00
i took both of my grandchildren to have the needles and they had no side efects from it. I made them explain the side effects to me so that i would know if they presented but thanks goodness they didnt.Iam not willing to take the chance that something can happen to my precise grandchildren when it only takes a needle to protect them
glynis | 16/05/2007 08:06:00
both my son's have had mmr and are doing fine.my oldest is 15 and he had no side affects as the press have been saying,the only thing he needed was plenty cuddles and a bit of calpol, your children deserve to be protected.
Jo Bryan | 16/05/2007 09:35:00
My tins had the vaccine in the middle of all the hype about it, I lost sleep over this. At the time 1995 I had no internet access, so had no way to thoroughly research this. I would have like to known without fuss the risk factors. I like to make a balanced informed choice. Because of the furore, it seems we were treated like overanxious mothers. Nowaday on medication, I read a whole list of possible complications, this should be available with vaccinantions also.
Aileen | 16/05/2007 09:42:00
My son had the combined vaccine 2 years ago and had no side effects at all. I weighed up the pros and cons myself and decided he was more at risk WITHOUT the vaccine. There is no scientific proof that the combined vaccine is harmful, as the research was flawed and should never have been published. The press always blow things out of proportion - I never take what they say at face value. In any case why would individual vaccines be any safer? I just made sure my son was 100% fit when he had the jag.
julie | 16/05/2007 10:02:00
my son had the MMR vaccine and he was fine.I think children have the right to be protected against these nasty illnesses and the benefits far outweigh the risks. My older children didn't have the opportunity to have this vaccine but I would have given it to them had it been available
Barbara | 16/05/2007 10:33:00
My grandson had the MMR and he had no side effects. He deserves the best. My daughter and I look at all the information available and decided to go ahead.
Caro Ness | 16/05/2007 10:52:00
I am one of those people who say that we need to investigate thoroughly before we vaccinate our children with these triple vaccinations. Why do we put such faith in our doctors when the medical world is so much in the pocket of the drug companies? We are responsible for our own health and the health of our children. We need to inform ourselves before making any decision.
Sara meredith | 16/05/2007 11:09:00
All four of my girls have had the mmr jab, and although i have one disabled daughter who didnt show signs of her disability till the 18 month mark, i know this to have nothing to do with the mmr.
Julia Ibbitson | 16/05/2007 11:10:00
My daughter had the combined MMR jab about 8/9 years ago. She never had any side effects but I wasn't given any information about alternatives either
hendry | 16/05/2007 11:19:00
i have had six kids all have the mmr jab not anyone has had any side afects and would agree with julie on here coment
Sarah | 16/05/2007 11:29:00
Both my children had the combined jab with no problems. My eldest did have a slight temperature for a short while afterwards but this is nothing compared to the symptoms associated with measles or mumps.
Sue Marsh | 16/05/2007 11:51:00
Both my kids, aged 5 and 8 had the triple vaccine. I had plenty of info supplied and didn't hesitate, as the benefits far outweigh the risks of the 3 diseases,IMHO.
Debbie | 16/05/2007 12:01:00
I have four children, all who have had the combined MMR jab. Apart from the the slight temperature which they all had after every vaccination they have had no adverse reactions. Cannot say I received much information from health visitors, etc but made the decision solely on the grounds of the % of adverse reactions there had been.
Coreen | 16/05/2007 12:50:00
My two children, 9 and 11 had the combined MMR jab, they both had a slight reaction, high temperature and out of sorts for a couple of days. I was not given a choice between the single or multiple injection. Personally I think the benefits of the vaccination outweigh the risks.
sue | 16/05/2007 13:25:00
my youngest has a severe disability to start with. So I hummed and hawed and researched and asked questions before finally getting it done. He took it in his stride and apart from a runny nose was absolutely fine.
Sharon | 16/05/2007 13:47:00
I have 3 children and they all had the combined jab, with no problems.
Tams | 16/05/2007 14:10:00
I have a son, who had the MMR vaccination. He had no side effects and is a very healthy little man. Children will have reactions to lots of things that they are exposed to and i would rather protect my son and have him with me, rather than not give my son the vaccination and him to catch something that could possibly take him away from me. He had the triple vaccination and i was not offered the single jabs, although i remember as a child my parents insisiting that i had the single jabs! I didnt really recieve that much advice about it from gp or health visitor but i always knew that i wanted my son to be vaccinated. The benefits definately outweigh the risks
victoria | 16/05/2007 14:24:00
I have two children, now 14 and 9. There were scare stories around when each of them came to have the mmr. I researched as much as possible, asked my GP what she would do, held my breath and took them along to have it.They were both fine. Having said that, I certainly wouldn't have allowed them to have it if they had been running a temperature or unwell.
debbie | 16/05/2007 14:36:00
my two children had the mmr jab with no problems & because i didnt have it when i was young i didnt want them to suffer like i did
Sarah | 16/05/2007 14:37:00
I have two children, aged 3 and 5yrs of age. My eldest has received both MMR jabs and I can report that there has been no side effects with the jab. My youngest has only had the 1st jab, and he too has no SAE's from the jab. I received no information, but I did my own research to way up whether or not to use the single jabs, but I felt the risks of no immunisation outweighed the media hype in giving my children the vaccincination to prevent them from getting the diseases in the 1st place. I considered how lucky we were in this country to have the jabs for free, when you think of all the children in poverty stricken countries who would love the gift of immunisation and good health.
Eve | 16/05/2007 15:16:00
I totally agree with Sarah - I think we are lucky to have the luxury of even having a debate about immunisation, when millions of children the world over don't have access to basic healthcare. For people to risk reintroducing diseases such as measles on the basis of completely flawed research is crazy. My daughter had the MMR and all her other jabs with no problems and is now a very healthy and happy 12 year old.
dawn | 16/05/2007 16:15:00
both my girls had the combined jab there was no side effects with either the was no option of single jabs but either way the benefit of being vaccincinated far outweigh the risks
Aileen Wallace | 16/05/2007 16:18:00
All my children and grandchildren have had the jab and I would advise any parent to allow their children to have it. Has it been forgotten just how bad the effects of these deceases can be ? Also how quickly we could return to a situation where because of lack of immunisation we could have illness in epidemic proportions
kat | 16/05/2007 17:49:00
My two eldest children had the combined jab and were fine- I was very worried but felt I didn't have a choice. My third child had seperate jabs for each one- at quite a cost- and he was also fine. None of my children has had the booster as I felt once was enough. The only thing I was told was that I was putting my children at risk by refusing the booster and that no children were ever harmed by it anyway. I know that this is not true as there have been compensation payments from the Vaccine damaged fund to a very small number of people. I have got friends whose children have had very bad reactions to MMr combination jab which is what probably made me nervous.
ingrid | 16/05/2007 17:49:00
My older son is now 20. He was just over a year old when the MMR was introduced. At that time I went along with what doctors told me and there was no information otherwise. He was very ill after the vaccination, with flu like symptoms, a very high temperature and lots of crying. shortly after this he had constant ear infections, which were treated by antibiotics. He went on to get glue ear and became almost completely deaf at the time he was supposed to be learning to talk. By then I became suspicious of trusting mainstream medicine and turned to alternative methods. His glue ear eventually improved, using homeopathy and other alternatives to the surgery that was recommended to me. Although both his father and his family and myself and my family have excellent eyesight, my son's eyesight deteriorated throughout his childhood at an alarming rate. He now needs very strong lenses. At the age of 17, he contracted a severe episode of mumps, which thankfully did not affect his testicles, and hopefully his future fertility will be okay. His GP insisted that he did not have mumps as he had had the MMR vaccination, but several of his friends contracted an identical illness at the same time and their GP's did accept it was mumps. I cannot prove it of course; but I believe that my son's ongoing health problems stemmed from that bad reaction to his vaccination. I have had another son since then, who is now 12 years old. I refused to let him have any vaccinations. I felt pressured by health visitor's and GP to have them done but I resisted. His health has been great so far and I have no doubts that I have done the right thing by not having him vaccinated.
Susanna | 16/05/2007 18:20:00
I only have the one child and had heard so much in the media about the possible side effects of the triple jab that I really didn't know what to believe. However, having worked as a journalist myself for 10 years I know how the Press loves to hype things up so I let him have the jab. The triple jab was the only option available - it was basically that or nothing - and I was able to discuss it with the nurse before hand but as there was no alternative offered I felt I had no choice but to go ahead. I was still extremely woried about doing so though because of all the stories and I was genuinelly concerned that I was putting my son at risk by having it. I just crossed my fingers and hoped I wasn't "unlucky" in the end. I have no doubt that some children have suffered adverse reactions and think single jabs should be available if people want them because if there's no alternative then some people will not get their kids vaccinated at all, and that's also risky.
SAM | 16/05/2007 20:00:00
I did ask questions about the combined jab and did not know whether to let my son have it or not, but what finally made up my mind was when I asked our pratice nurse if her children has been vaccinated and she said they had. My son had no side effects at all.
MagsC | 16/05/2007 20:35:00
Will keep it short and sweet. All 3 of my children (10, 8 & 4 years) have had all the proper vaccinations and have suffered NO consequences from it. I am very glad they all had it.
Karen | 17/05/2007 00:20:00
All my four children have had the MMR. The first in 1994, second in 1996, third in 1999 and fourth in 2001. None of them suffered from any sort of reaction. I was not pushed in any way to decide if I wanted them to have the imunisations or not, it was entirely my choice. I am very pleased that we made the decision to go ahead and protect our children.
Kerry | 17/05/2007 00:31:00
My eldest son was diagnosed as Autistic at age 8, he had the triple jab as a baby. I dont particularily believe tthat the MMR caused his condition, but I do think there is such a thing as a 'genetic pre-disposition' to such conditions - two cousins are also affected. With this in mind I did not want my younger son to receive the MMR jab, and asked my doctor for single jabs. He was very sympathetic but could only steer me towards private clinics in the nearest city, where a course of 3 would cost £450.I couldn't afford this amd as a result I have not had my youngest immunised - I am relying on herd immunity, which is not great but I am not willing to take the risk.
Jerry | 17/05/2007 09:23:00
My daughter was born in 2001 so when it was time for her MMR the media were full of scary headlines on the subject, luckily we have a good team at our local surgery who we trust, they gave us good advice and our daughter had the MMR with no problems or side effects just like the majority of children worldwide.
Alison | 17/05/2007 09:28:00
Both of my boys have had the MMR. The eldest born 1997 also had to have a booster MMR. Although no long lasting side effects they were both under the weather about a week after with high temperatures etc. As a young child I had one of the first measles vaccines available in the late 60's early 70's because a relative had lost her hearing as result of a measles infection. I think we are so protected these days from the horrors of childhood diseases that we do tend to forget the concequerces of not being vaccinated!
Antje Turner | 17/05/2007 09:37:00
I have a 7 year old daughter and she had the MMR vaccination without any side effects. I think it depends on the child. All medication/Vaccinations have side effects and it is up to the parent to decide what they think is right for the child.
jennie wren | 17/05/2007 09:56:00
I was very sceptical about the MMR after talking to a friend of mine who works with autistic children. She said she wouldn`t give it to her child, and a felt inclined to trust her judgement on that. My little boy is allergic to eggs too, and i was told that it was prepared in egg, so that was another factor. When i was little apparantly there were problems with the measles vaccine, and as a result neither me nor my brother were given it. Something to do with my eyes??? Maybe its still the dodgy part of the MMR??
Cheryl Raven | 17/05/2007 10:18:00
I have 2 children who were both given the MMR vaccine with no side effects. At the time i read alot of the reports and information that had come out and reasoned that the benefits out wayed any possible side effects. I have no regrets on my decision and feel it was the correct one for me.
Moody | 17/05/2007 10:24:00
All 3 of my children have had the MMR. When my eldest had his in 1996 there wasn't too much info on the subject just what the health person decided to tell me!! But he has suffered no side affects at all and well & healthy. My 2 smaller children have recently had theirs, I have kept up with the media coverage over the past couple of years and it still hasn't discouraged me from having the combined MMR. They are both fit and well and have no side effects from the injections.I believe that they are well protected from having the triple.
louise | 17/05/2007 11:17:00
my daughter had the MMR without no side affects at all to my knowledge the risk to not have the vacine was what worried me so therefore i chose to get my daughter protected. You hear about all the problems in the press but i didnt want to be part of causing an epidemic in the uk
Azurei | 17/05/2007 11:56:00
When my first child was born I was fairly young, and almost felt pressurised for my child to have everything thing whether i agreed or not. By the time my second child was born, I realised that having my own opinion didn't make me a bad parent. My second child had no MMR, They are both lovely healthy children, but I agree very much in alternative medicines, so the idea of my child being injected with drugs that I dont no what they contain, I am glad that I stood up and said no.
Nikki | 17/05/2007 13:07:00
Both my children had the MMR jab and I have always felt happy with the decision. My son has aspergers (high functioning autism) but I know that it had nothing to do with the MMR as he was exactly the same before and after. My GP explained the MMR is detail before I made a decision, she has children on a similar age to mine and they had the MMR as well. I know there are people in my family who think that because my son had the MMR that is what caused his autism and I think they blame me but I DO NOT feel guilty, I feel I made the right decision for my children.
K Louden | 17/05/2007 14:01:00
I have 2 boys and only the eldest has had the MMR vaccination so far, as my other son is too young. I decided on the single vaccination as it was the only free option and also i would rather it be given in one go, than 3 seperate injections. I was explained all the pros and cons of the vaccination and found it very useful. I will be having the single vaccination for my youngest child when he has to have it and my oldest son had no side effects. Personally i would advise parents to have the single vaccination, but in the end it is up to the individual family. For Nikki who posted i agree with you totally and i cannot believe certain family members have blamed you for your sons condition because he had the single MMR and i'm glad you don't feel guilty! I wouldn't.
Aged Mother | 17/05/2007 14:46:00
I felt the information I was given helped me make an informed decision and all 3 of my children had the MMR jab with no ill effects, short or long term. However, a friend's son did seem to undergo a personality change after the jab and is regarded as having Aspergers syndrome - of course it's not possible to know whether this would have been the case even if he hadn't had an MMR.
Julie | 17/05/2007 16:37:00
Having worked as a nanny to a GP who had both her children vaccinated with the triple MMR I felt confident to have my sons receive the same vaccine.Healthcare professionals have access to far more info than the general public. My sons were both fine and have grown into strong healthy children without having to cope with all the illnesses I had to put up with as a child. I believe there are more risks of side effects from the diseases themselves than from the triple vaccine.
Mandy | 17/05/2007 16:53:00
Both my children have had the MMR jab with no problems
Rob | 17/05/2007 17:54:00
Both my children have had the jabs. I know the effects of the diseases and they are much worse than the potential side effects. Risk is an incredibly difficult concept for people to understand. It is easy for people such as Wakefield to play on this and change a group's behaviour by scaremongering without effective proof and these days the press helps them. Unfortunately it can similarly give people false hope with cures. I have friends with autistic children and it is difficult to get round that the time association is just coincidence, but I am sure it is.
Jo | 17/05/2007 18:18:00
Both of my children have had the combined jab - not offered single ones, I thought you had to go private for that. I was a bit concerned due to all the bad press, but thought that the advantages far outweighed the small risks - didnt really feel it an option not to take them. Both were fine, little fever with the first one - nothing calpol cant cure.
Sue | 17/05/2007 18:42:00
Both my girls had the MMR injection my oldest was born in 1997 and neither girls have had no side effects.
Lee | 17/05/2007 19:04:00
I have 3 children who were vacinated and didnt have any side effects I think it is just a small minority that are
kaz | 17/05/2007 21:08:00
As to why boys should have rubella jabs, the fewer people who get rubella, the less likelyhood of girls who are not immune, for whatever reason, catching the disease whilst pregnant, and having blind/deaf/deformed babies
mother of 4 | 17/05/2007 21:28:00
I have given all my children the Vacination without hesitation. I feel that to not give them them this could have caused more illness and is a lottery of chance Prevention is better than cure. They were all perfectly fine and are all healthy.
Fiona | 17/05/2007 21:39:00
All 5 of my children have had the MMR, my eldest had this the year after it first started. No problems with any of them. When I was a child a girl in my class got German Measles and left her brain damaged and sadly died, this had a lasting effect on me and when the MMR came out I was all for it.
jane | 17/05/2007 21:55:00
my two daughters both had mmr jab no problems
Angelique | 17/05/2007 22:04:00
My children are 7 and 5 and as with most with kids that age, I too was worried by the hype. However, having had all three diseases myself in childhood, as a result of non-vaccination, there was never any hesitation on my part that they should have all their jabs, as the risks of the illnesses themselves are far too high. My children are very healthy and were at the time of vaccination and nver had any reaction at all.
Mhairi | 17/05/2007 22:14:00
I am a mother of 2, a paediatric nurse and lecturer in child health with a previous career in a supraregional paediatric intensive care unit. I consented to the combined vaccine for both my daughters having reviewed all the evidence for myself, discussing it with a number of primary care doctors (incuding one who sat on the Scottish Executive enquiry to review the evidence) and more importantly considering the alternatives. Single doses do not decrease any significant risk statistically or immunologicically to your child and increase the opportunity for an unpleasant experience for my children. The other alternative of the rare but possible infection which can result in encephalitis, septicaemia, brain damage or death, all of which I have witnessed were never an option for me or my husband. My health visitor was extremely well versed on the evidence and also had an extensive resource folder for parents to view the evidence for themselves. I believe that the potential consequences of the measles, mumps or rubella are underplayed to the parents and many in the community are unaware of the potential complications of "simple childhood disorders" that we were all encouraged to catch. I am dismayed at the media for selling the wrong headlines and not making the same efforts to inform that the first results were not reproducible. I also have a close friend with 2 sons who have both been diagnosed as having severe autism, one had the triple vaccine the other didn't and both were exhibiting unusual behaviour prior to their immunisations that were obvvious to us but we are trained observers of children. Both my girls sailed through the actual events with no side effects other than a slight raise in temperature which was dealt with by paracetamol suspension and a new book for a treat!
Lynne McEvoy | 17/05/2007 22:41:00
Both my children had the vaccination but they had no side effects.
Gill Robinson | 18/05/2007 12:01:00
My oldest son (now 12) had the first vaccine and was very poorly with side effects for about a month afterwards. This was dismissed by the GP as having nothing to do with the vaccine. My younger son also had MMR without any side effects but I did not opt for the booster for either of them.
claire jackson | 18/05/2007 12:06:00
my son had the mmr jab and had no problems or side effects. He was born at 26 weeks 1lb4oz and spent 16 weeks in nicu. I discussed the jabs with gp ,hopsital dr,hv and all agreed with me that he should have the jab. i may have been a little worried in the early days about this and any other jabs due to his prematurity but that was down to me wanting to shield him from having more injections etc. he has so many canula scars on his body from his 1st 16 weeks of life. he is now an active but dinky 3 year old
Kathleen Holland | 18/05/2007 12:08:00
My son, now 13 had the combined MMR and suffered no side effects. It is a very hard decision to make when your childs quality of life is at stake, but the alternative is equally as worrying. I feel all a parent can do is to read any information available and speak to your GP then make an informed decision.
Vikki | 18/05/2007 12:18:00
My son has had the single jabs - at a clinic in Hemel Hempstead. Our gp was supportive in our decision. We decided to have the singles due to family medical history - which I dont want to go into detail on here. We didnt make the decision lightly and looked into the pros and cons. I was very pleased with the clinc we wnet to and I will be returning there if I have further children. Also, when we went for his Rubella jab we were chattingto the other parents waiting...2 of whom were GPs...so it really is a personal decision.
Heather | 18/05/2007 12:19:00
My son seemed normal and he was starting to talk. Immediately after the vaccine, he withdrew into himself and stopped talking. He was diagnosed with autism. When he did start speaking again he found it very difficult and his speech was dyspraxic, which it had not been previously
Cindy | 18/05/2007 12:22:00
My daughter had the combined MMR and had no side effects.
Jellybean | 18/05/2007 12:27:00
My youngest child now 11, was refused the mmr because he was allergic to eggs, and at the time the vaccine was culitivated in egg albumen. I've since asked for him to have these vaccines seperately but have been told that its no longer an option. My other children had the vaccines seperately and three of the six of them reacted badly to the measels one. One child ended up in hospital for a week following his measels jab, with a raging temperature, and his arm was so red and swollen that his clothes had to be cut off him. Two of my children developed whooping cough after having that vaccine and the son that developed an allergic reation to the measels jab went on to have another reaction to the tetanus jab when he started school. I was advised to have his next Tetanus booster given seperately but apparently that is no longer an option either, at least not in my area health authority. So I'm not quite sure how I'm going to deal with that one when the time comes.
joanne | 18/05/2007 12:51:00
both my children had the mmr jab and both were fine afterwards.my youngest was due to have the combined vaccine when there was a lot of talk about the adverse reactions and side effects.even though one of my in-laws claimed that her son had become autistic after having the mmr jab i still went ahead with my own sons vaccination as i believed the benefits of the jab far outweighed the 'risks' of not having it.the thing that worries me now is the fact that we have children who have not been immunised against these diseases in our schools and nurseries which could cause problems in the future.any issue regarding children and parents is a very personal one and the opinion of anyone should be respected, regardless of personal views and ethics.perhaps the media and certain protesters should take this into account before sounding off and trying to cause panic, as any decision regarding your children is a difficult task to undertake when you are trying to do the best for, and protect them.
jamie | 18/05/2007 12:57:00
i have 3 boys and for my first son i was given little information but told by all health care professionals it was safe vaccine and it would be irresponsible not to give it. i gave my oldest son it it summer 98 - the next 6 weeks were hell. he was very ill with a fever and flu like symptoms and then after that he had changed from the happy child he'd been into a monster - tempertantrums including kicking and biting, he stopped talking reacted badly to loud noises, colours temperture changes. at the time i was told it was the terrible twos,3's,4's,5's...... after 6 years of various tests and discussions he has been diagnosed with high functioning autism.he was developing normally before the injection. his 2 little brothers have not had the injection - they are both fine. think carefully and gather as much information from family regarding your family health and discuss it with a childrens doctor before making a decision if there is any doubt. the vaccine has saved thousands of lives but if i could change the past i would not of given my eldest the injection.
Deb | 18/05/2007 13:26:00
I have 2 girls and 3 boys.My girls had the mmr and both were poorly and had a large hot swollen lump around the injection site.I allowed my 1st boy to have the first mmr and he was fine.Then all the bad stuff was said about the mmr and it put me off.My other 2 boys have not had the jab and one of them did get measles and he was quite poorly with them but it still does'nt change my way of thinking.My boy who had the mmr suffers with learning difficulties and due to all the rumours that were around about mmr it does make me wonder if it was anything to do with having the jab.
David Ellis | 18/05/2007 13:28:00
Both my children, now 13 and 10, had the combined MMR vaccine, with no side effects. I believe strongly that the whole programme of infant and child vaccinations should be regularly presented to the public as a positive health benefit to society. I even think that refusal of parents to complete the recommended programme should disqualify them from child benefit. Where are the "Panorama" programmes on the effects of measles?
Andrew Cameron | 18/05/2007 13:30:00
I have twins, a boy and a girl. We read up as much as we could, mainly in national press and online rather than through any officially recieved information and we decided the protection offered by the MMR jab far outweighed any potential downside. No side effects we were aware of either in the immediate aftermath, (my little girl even saidf thankyou to the nurse after she had the injection!), or in the weeks or months following.
Parent of 4 | 18/05/2007 13:34:00
All 4 of my kids have had the MMR vaccine, and all suffered no side effects. There was a lot of fuss at the time about the vaccine, and the side effects it might have. However I have just found out that my 15 year old nephew has just had the injection again (I did not know that they had it again at this age)? and 2 of my children will be coming upto this age soon. I am beginning to worry again. Although I am sure it is worth having as these diseases used to kill and could get so bad again, if people stop having the immunisation
Stef | 18/05/2007 14:15:00
I had no worries about giving my son, now 3.5, the combined jab because my thought was I would rather have an autistic but otherwise healthy child than a very ill or deaf child or heaven forbid, no child at all. He was absolutley fine afterwards and I wouldn't hesitate giving any other children I might have the same injection. I think the press blew it all out of proportion, there was no evidence of it having side effects like that and the risk was so small. I do however think the NHS should have given more information on it.
steve riley | 18/05/2007 15:00:00
i had both my children protected by the mmr vaccine and both was fine apart from a high tempature when they had it they recovered just fine i would advise all parents to have this mmr vaccine as its better to protect than not too
Karol Elliott | 18/05/2007 15:05:00
I don't recall any information being given to me. In my house you just had your vaccinations as you were told. Both my boys now 14 and 11 were fine before during and after. My eldest doesn't like school and doesn't concenrate very well, but hey would he have been like that anyway, how would you know?
Mandy | 18/05/2007 15:33:00
I was worried about giving my now 2 year old daughter, any immunisations due to a family history, myself included, of convulsions and fits. But after much discussion and research my husband and decided that there was more risk of damage from the diseases than from the immunisations. My heart goes out to any one whose child has become ill or developed autism, but there is no correlating evidence that MMR causes autism, it is a coincidence that it is picked up in a child at the same age that the child receives the MMR, and also more boys than girls autism. Millions of children still die every day from these so-called childhood diseases. My little girl was fine after all her jags, a little clingy but no side effects at all. In fact I came of worse, it was horrible holding her still while the needle was stuck in her leg
Scott Simpson-Vye | 18/05/2007 15:44:00
All my older children had the MMR except the youngest-who had a difficult birth and was very ill for many weks at the start of his life-now 5 years old-and we were advised to have the jags separate-which we did-what a carry on it turned out to be and rather expensive-goodness knows how anyone on a limited income can have any real choice.I do think the press etc do over hype some of these things-but then if complications did set in I would be the first to ask why did nobody tell me
s wincott | 18/05/2007 17:01:00
Did your child have a combined or separate single vaccinations for Measles, Mumps and Rubella? my daughter had the combined vacine for mmr. Why did you make this choice? i made this choice as i could not afford seperate vacines and was worried i would not have all 3 done or even she may catch one of the illnesses inbetween vaccinations. When were the vaccinations carried out? aged around 3 and 4 1/2 • How satisfied were you with the information provided by healthcare professionals? i was quite satisfied with the information the nurse gave although she was it seems against the single vaccines-no question! By the media? i was upset with all the media specualation as its very hard as it is to try and make the right decision for your child,we all just want whats best,i was also upset that tony blair did not have the combined vaccine • Were there any side effects from the vaccinations? not really except for a small temperature and so feeling off a few days later. • What advice would you give to other parents/carers about the MMR vaccination? do what you feel is best but fully research and make sure you are doing the best for your child and keep up with all check ups etc • How do you think Healthcare Professionals should portray the advantages and/or disadvantages of the vaccination? they should not be biased but often are.im not sure that it is good to blast the immune system with all 3 at once and you should be advised about this. the main thing that pushed me towards having the combined vaccine was that a lady i worked with had a son with autism and she did not believe the mmr jab contributed to it and so made me feel a little assured.also another parent i know had the seperate jabs and her son was left at risk for quite a while in between i am not even sure that he has even had all jabs now aged 6+?
e wood | 18/05/2007 17:28:00
I have 3 children who all received the mmr vaccination. I had no hesitation in getting them vaccinated and have had no problems with reactions or side effects. Too many parents are reading hyped up versions of the truth in the media. Not all parents can afford to get seperate vaccinations which leaves children with no protection against these illnesses. Measles, mumps and rubella illnesses in themselves can leave children with side effects. I personally would advise all parents to get the mmr that way there won't be any epidemics of these illnesses.
Matt C. | 18/05/2007 17:35:00
The complaints about "Lack of information" are a bit silly. Your GP would advise you to have the vaccinations, based on his/her knowledge, experience and training. That's all the advice you need. No amount of information is going to give you, an amateur, enough to make a considered judgment. The bottom line is that the small risks of vaccinating are much smaller than the risks associated with *not* vaccinating. Parents are not qualified to judge for themselves what's best and we should stop pretending they are with all this "choice" and "information" claptrap and instead ensure that professional advice is obtained and adhered to for all forms of medical treatment, including vaccinations. If you're worried about MMR, it's because we as a society have forgotten what it's like for families to frequently lose children to previously common childhood diseases. Even nurses themselves no longer have experience of wards full of very sick children, as there used to be 80 years ago.
Matthew Hancock | 18/05/2007 17:41:00
Both my children had the mmr. Way safer than any tiny risk that could possibly exist. I think parents who do not let their children have mmr are irresponsible.
Sharon | 18/05/2007 18:48:00
I have 5 children. ages range from 16 down to 6 years old. They have all had the combined MMR. I couldnt go through letting someone stab them on separt occasions when they can have all the protection all in one "stab". You know they are covered and no worries that they might catch anything in between each separte injection that they might not be covered for. You also dont have as many injections to keep up with/count. PS the kids dont like them, so one jab does all was the kindest method for my kids. They had absolutly no side effects other than a little bit of swelling at the site and calpol for a day more for comfort so they feel ok about the situation and will be "co operative" at a next injection. They will remeber that they were ok last time. For me it was very important that they understood that having these soldiers in their bodies fighting nasty bad guys. They dont like injections but they dont argue much now. Having the fighting squad to win a battle against the bad guys is important and makes them feel good.
Emma Sutton | 18/05/2007 19:30:00
I have a brother who is 4 and im also a student midwife so during my traininig i have explored the research on MMR vaccines, i think that the benefits way outweigh the potential risks which havent actually been proven. All the children in my family have had the vaccines and i intend my own children to have them. I can very well understand why parents would be wary about this as its their childs life that is at a potential risk.
michelle cavanagh | 18/05/2007 19:47:00
I have had 5 children who all have had the MMR an they have all been fine with it..I feel that if there r problems with it then there is only a minority that suffer...although i do feel no child should suffer and can well unerstand why parents r worried....but this day an age parents get filled with too much information and by doing this a lot of parents get very scared..
Ms C | 18/05/2007 20:36:00
Although I have immunsied my two children, I am not sure that I would immunise another child, due to concerns about possible side effects. I also have some reservations as to the amount of information being withheld by the government re: children that have experience adverse side effects or permant damage resulting from being immunised with the MMR vacine.
lyn | 18/05/2007 21:18:00
I waited till my son was 2 before giving him the mmr combination jag so far there as been no ill effects except he developed a really nasty cold which lasted for a few weeks and an extreme temperture. The doctor reassured myself and hubby that this was not caused by the mmr jag. I feel the press do more damage than good when it comes to these matters. Once something has a been given bad press it sticks regardless of how much further study is done. Anyway my second child will be having her jags as well but I will be waiting till she is two as well just for peace of mind.
Michael C | 18/05/2007 21:37:00
Both my children, now aged 13 and 17 had the MMR injections . I guess this was quite early in the day when there was only slight talk of the connection with Autism and there was no option of individual injections. The amount of information at that point was quite minimal . Both Children had no side effects and certainly have had no adverse reactions. There needs to be a balanced portrayal of the literature both for and against the vaccine . There should also be a highlight of why immunisation is important . A lot of the discussion around the MMR considers possible individiual effects yet immunisation programmes can see the total eradication of a disease , polio is a good example of this . The benefits to wider society should be highlighted by the health professionals .
fiona | 18/05/2007 22:31:00
i had twins in 95 and they had the combined MMR with no problems was so ever.
catherine | 19/05/2007 03:10:00
i have four children and all of them have had the MMR jag the only one to have any reaction was my youngest but then it was nothing serious she only had a slight fever for a few days.
marie | 19/05/2007 10:37:00
Both my children have had the MMR jab and been fine. I was a bit nervous about it but they have both been healthy nough after.
Taff43 | 19/05/2007 12:26:00
To thos surching websites I would recommend that they read the alternative health info. The combined innoculations appear to be the problem. The vaccine plus the preservatives used. I have refused ALL innouclations for my son due to the risk of 20% reactions and the pushing of medications such as Calpol to reliece the symptoms. MMR can take 6 years for there to be any reactions such as autism showing. Giving children a healthy diet - NO JUNK FOOD - and plenty of exercise is far more important in builing-up a child's resistance. Breast fed babies generally doing better than bottle fed. Health care professionals generally only paint the black picture of what can happen if children are not given innoculations. It is rare for any parent to be given any information on what can go seriously wrong by any Health Professional. It should be remembered that big business Pharmacutical companies make a great deal of money and exercise their muscle in persuading the government and health care professionals in what should be given - at a price. These same companies do not tell you the whole facts about any clinical trials conducted. You are only told what the drug companies want you to know so that they can sell more drugs and any drugs needed to combat side effects. There are no known drug cures for autism however!
Fareen | 19/05/2007 12:42:00
Both my children have had the combined MMR. I was given alot of information by my health visitor, as i was sceptical. In the end we decided the benefits far outweighed the risk. Both children were fine after the jabs and we've not had any side effects or problems.
naomi | 19/05/2007 17:45:00
both my children had the vaccine,i had no second thoughts about it as the risks of complications were so minimal they would of been at greater risk not having had it,neither suffered any side effects after immunisation at all.
ADEY | 19/05/2007 19:38:00
All my three children have had the mmr injections and there have been no complications at all and my eldest is 15 years old now
claire | 19/05/2007 22:17:00
All 3 of my children have had the combined and are all fine. I can understand parents worrying but I still feel they are better having than not at all.
Nadia | 19/05/2007 22:19:00
My 2 yr old son had his MMR jab and there was absolutely no side effects at all. I was given all the info on it from the health professionals and my mother who works in a nursery. I would deffinately recommend it to all mothers and carers and advise that they should not be scared of it but make sure you are well informed. When it's time for my daughter to get hers i will not hesitate to give it to her.
Linda Dawes | 19/05/2007 22:37:00
I have a son who had the combined mmr and had no adverse effects. I researched it before giving and as far as i could see the benifits outweighed the risks. The health visitor was very positive about the jab but did not seem to have alot of research available.
Margaret Mckenzie HALLIWELL | 20/05/2007 00:04:00
My son got this vaccination and he is just fine, anybody else that i know of who has children there are all fine as well. the alternative does not berar thinking of.
nannynobnob | 20/05/2007 09:59:00
Both of my children ages 12 & 9 had the combined jabs with no side affects. I also have friends who's children had seperate jabs although they had problems finding someone who would give them seperate they had to go out of town to get them.
Maggie | 20/05/2007 17:03:00
Both my children, now aged 12 and 14, had the combined MMR and suffered no side effects. I do think the benefits outweigh the risks. I suffered with measles when I was small, and would not want my children to go through that. More information should be made available to help the general public to be more informed regarding the pros and cons.
Grace | 20/05/2007 18:31:00
I have 3 sons who all had the combined MMR,they didn't suffer any ill effects.They are 19,12,and 10 repectfully.My youngest sister has 3 sons eldest had MMR and her two younger ones had individual jabs,which cost the nhs much more.I didn't agree with her decision ,but it was hers to make.
Karen | 20/05/2007 19:02:00
All four of my children have had the combined vaccine. My youngest child had hers just last week. My child did have an 'off day' for about 24 hours after the jab but no further side effects. All of the others were totally fine. The health visitor gave lots of information each time, even though they knew I had been through the process before. The effects of catching the diseases are far worse than the associated risks. I realise that some children have developed autism following the injection but I decided that it was in their best interests to have the MMR jab.
Les | 20/05/2007 19:52:00
Both our boys, now 3 and 7, have had all injections and immunizations going, including TB. Both boys were and are still fine. It would seem that some parents prefer the higher risk of death than the much smaller risk of autism, which, I think, says a lot about the selfishness of the parents, especially as by not having their child immunised, they increase the risks for all children, not just their own.
chris22 | 20/05/2007 21:27:00
I have 4 children and all of mine were given the MMR vaccine. None had any side effects at the time of the vaccine nor later ion life and my eldest is now 29. The information I was given was enough for me to decide which was best for my children
Kelly | 21/05/2007 09:51:00
We held off giving the MMR vaccine to our son now 7 because of all the negative press around which certainly scared us at the time but then came the horror stories about clinics ripping off people having single jabs so we didn't know what to do for the best.When our daughter was born (now aged 2) the whole thing had died down and after talking to health care professionals we decided to vacinate both children at the same time and are pleased we did.Both are fit and healthy . But I do not agree with Les that parents are selfish for not having the MMR as I think all parents want the best for their kids .
Tina | 21/05/2007 13:13:00
My eldest 2 girls (19 and 11 now) had all thier injections but I held off with my youngest having the combined MMR. I was finally offered a consultation with a doctor at my local hospital and they went through the pros and cons with me, and I finally agreed for my youngest (now 7) to have the jab at the age of 5, before she started school. She has had no ill effects.
wayne | 21/05/2007 13:16:00
all three of my kids have had the MMR jab and suffered no side effects whatsoever.
Jules | 21/05/2007 13:44:00
My daughter aged 3, had the triple vaccine and had no adverse side effects whatsoever. I think the risks of having the jab far outweigh the risks of not having the jabs at all. I would advise parents to read all the information they can, and make up their own mind, but I would never agree with no vaccine at all.
annette | 21/05/2007 13:49:00
I have 5 children all that have had the mmr and none of mine have had any after affects other than a temp, i am going tomorrow for my youngest son who is 4 mths to have his 3rd dose,i do fill that more information should have been offered and them not just persume that (a) i remember it from the time before,(b) because all my other children had the injection that i would automaticially do it again this time round.
nadine | 21/05/2007 14:19:00
all 4 of my childern had the mmr vaccine and they are all totally fine.Yes I was more concerned about having my youngest 3 immunised as there were plenty of scare stories in the press.saying that, you can't listen to everything you hear in the papers and on the news or you would be to scared to do anything. The risks are far less than the benifits.I had mumps as a child and it wasn't nice,so if i can help my children especially my son against it i will.
Ann-Marie | 21/05/2007 14:37:00
All five of my children had the MMR vacine without any problems. This is one of the older vacinations and has been thouroughly tested unlike the newer five in one jabs. I know there was a scare going around about the MMR but I didn't take much notice as my older children had recieved the jab without any problems.
Dawn | 21/05/2007 14:38:00
My three children, aged 17, 15 and 13, all had the combined injections and had no adverse reactions at all. As far as I can recall, the single injections were not available, and the research at the time gave a higher risk of brain injury/death from not having them.
Trish | 21/05/2007 14:42:00
My daughter had her‘s with no problems, But I have refused to let my 18 months old son have his MMR. He has an extremely rare condition called PTU and coeliac’s so I don’t want to take the risk. I discussed the MMR with his GP, health visitor, neurologist and gastroenterologist and they all agreed with my decision. I am aware of the growing epidemic (and consequences) of measles but I feel the risk was too high to chance. He is up to date with all the other inoculation but since he had the last injection he has constantly been ill with chest and ear infections. I know these are normal childhood illness but for an18 month old child with complex needs any illness hinders his development … he’s not talking, walking, has a visual impairment and has a gross motor delay taking the risk with the MMR for me … “is not an option”
Madeline | 21/05/2007 15:08:00
My two eldest children (17 & 15) had the MMR when they were small and had no major side effects. My doctor nagged me to have the boosters (wanted to meet his targets) but I waited till well after their pre-school jabs. They were both fine. My youngest is now 10 and still has not had his MMR.When he was a baby he used to projetile vomit his milk both breast milk and juice and I delayed because of that. I reasoned that as I and all of my peers had all had measles, mumps and rubella as children and none of us suffered any problems because of them, it was an acceptable risk. I have not been given any information about the pros and cons of the vaccine and my surgery only says take it or leave it. I think my son had rubella a couple of years ago and the nurse says it is still fine for him to have the MMR whenever I want. I have no real problem with him having the jab now he is older and not having anymore vaccinations till he is 15. I have given him the chance of catching the illnesses but now he is getting too old for me to be happy about him getting mumps. Measles too would probably be more severe as the older you get the worse the illness. I had rubella at 23 on my birthday and as I had been a biology student it was quite interesting to monitor the diseases progress. Plan to vaccinate him this summer. Fingers crossed.
Sangita | 21/05/2007 15:09:00
Both my girls were vaccinated with an all-in-one and apart from my eldest, who developed very mild measles, there were no adverse affects. I had some great literature from my family planning clinic and I knew it was for the best that they had the full jabs. My eldest was also a premature baby who weighed just 2lb 5oz at birth. She is almost 16 now and doing very well, healthwise and otherwise. I don't believe that all children are vulnerable to side effects. It just made sense to me that my kids ought to be immunised!
Shelley | 21/05/2007 16:27:00
All my 4 daughters have had the MMR triple vaccine without any ill effects. If I were ever asked my opionion about this vaccine I would recommend having it as the side effects of the actual diseases are a more frightening prospect. If your GP recommends it then do it they know your childs medical history, so no reason to go against their judgement.
Lorriane.f | 21/05/2007 18:00:00
I have two children and one had the MMR and the other had the 3 jabs seperately as my Dr at the time wouldn't do all three at once .I found the separate jabs more stressful for my child and me, and had several sleepless nights with each jab.Where as when my other child had the triple jab we had only one sleepless night and a more contented child. But with both there were no major side effects.
mel | 21/05/2007 19:27:00
all 3 of my girls had the MMR. I never had any reservations and still dont. The chances of permanent damage without having this far outway the risks.
Elaine | 21/05/2007 21:23:00
l chose single vaciantions for my daughter and son, and will coose it again for my baby son. although l will not get the boys vaccinated against rubella. It seems that the mmr is a lot all at once for a wee one. l did a lot of research before l made a decision and although both sides of the argument are passionetely expressed, some people truley beleive the mmr damaged their children and l could not get that out of my head. the nhs should allow parents to pay extra and have single vacs, the choice should be allowed. The gvt were stubborn for no good reason.
claire woods | 21/05/2007 21:42:00
I have one child and he's had no vacs at all. Had no trouble from health vistor when we said this is what we'd decided.
Dr John Wood | 21/05/2007 22:15:00
My wife an I are both Drs we found it difficult to make a reasoned decision regarding MMR given all the press and reports. Given that the effects of Measles, Mumps and Rubella are much worse than the risk of developing Autism from MMR we decided to have all our boys immunised. I think that Tony Blair has failed to show leadership and confidence in the MMR vaccine by refusing to let the public know, unlike David Cameron and (albeit 2 years after his sons birth) Gordon Brown if his son Leo had been given the MMR vaccine. This is why only 87% of the population have had their children immunised. What have the Blairs got to hide?
Janine | 22/05/2007 09:39:00
I have had all 6 of my children vaccinated and none of them had any problems. I was aware of possible side effects before I went to the doctor and made my own decision. I was not informed of any possible problems by the actual gp surgery.
Martin | 22/05/2007 09:43:00
I am old enough to remember the effects of these disease cycles on the children I grew up with, we also travel and see the effects in places where there is no general immunisation programme offered. Our children have had MMR after we discussed it as even the simplest risk analysis shows that the definite benefits far outweigh the very small potential risk. The risks of death or mutilation from allowing children in the kitchen or to travel in a motor vehicle are far greater yet there is no furore over these common activities perhaps because there is no-one else to blame but ourselves. We felt that there could have been a more reasoned case put for MMR at the time of our childrens innoculation and have mixed feelings about single vaccines being made generally available at our (the taxpayers) expense. However, when we see the stuff people 'inject' into their childrens mouths under the guise of food it makes us wonder where peoples priorities are and whether people generally have any concept of relative risk!
Sharon Faunt | 22/05/2007 09:54:00
My son had his pre-school booster injections two weeks ago. 24 hours after having them he got a high temperature and started vomiting. This lasted for two days and was then followed by diarrhea which lasted for three days. I took him back to the doctors and after a thorough examination of his stomach was told it was probably a reaction from his booster injections. He had two injections, one in each arm. There were no bumps on the injection site at all. If I had known he would be as poorly as he was I would have requested that he be given the injections seperately.
Nicky Martingell | 22/05/2007 10:16:00
I gave all three of my children the MMR and there was never any question of me not doing so. All Three were fine except may be for a little rash or slight temperature a few days later. There is no real proof of it causing Autism or anything as yet and I would be far more worried about my child getting measles and suffering a serious side effect from the actual disease. As for the single vaccines, there is no proof this is any better and the child will have to suffer three seperate jabs.
sandra | 22/05/2007 10:24:00
My 3 girls all had the MMR none of them had any effects from it, also my neices and nephew have had it with no problems. Everyone i know no one has said there child had any effects
kirsty donald | 22/05/2007 11:39:00
my 2 year old daughter had the combined mmr and no problems or side affects.i dont have a problem with the mmr and if i have any more kids i will let them have the combined mmr.
Lynne | 22/05/2007 12:19:00
We have 4 children, our eldest had the usual 2, 3 and 4 month vaccines, followed by the MMR at 13 months, causing a very red sore hard lump at the injection site. Two days afterwards she developed asthma after a bad case of croup and now at 12 still has to be careful when she gets a cold because she becomes asthmatic. None of our other three children have had any vaccinations at all as a result of this and much research. Measles is a problem in third World countries where people are vitamin A deficient. My husband had measles and mumps when young, no ill effects, a child just needs time and a carer to be nursed and monitored at home.(as used to be the case, now most parents work, does anyone have time for their children now?) I had mumps and rubella, so did most children then - no ill effects, they are just normal childhood diseases. Any complications are very rare. Once you have the actual disease you have natural immunity, unlike the vaccines which only offer at most 7 years immunity. I would much rather my children had the diseases than pollute their immune systems with so many vaccines in one go too, how unnatural. Who knows long-term what damage we are doing to our children, is this perhaps one of the reasons why one out of three people get cancer?
anna thomas-sam | 22/05/2007 13:49:00
I have 2 children who both had the combined MMR vaccine as babies without any real problems. The information provided was sparse when my eldest was offered (11 years ago) but I have always been of the belief that the benefits outweigh the risks. I myself was given everything going as an infant and have had no health problems other than the usual coughs and colds of childhood. However, when my second child was offered the vaccine, it was just before a holiday to africa and the combination of MMR, yellow fever, Hib and tetanus within a short space of time overloaded her system causing diahorrea and lethargy for a few days. Since this episode, she has been well. I do agree, however, that the decision is a personal one and should be made based on evidence provided by impartial health professionals.
nicki | 22/05/2007 14:09:00
my son is 7 and my daughter is 4.They both had the combined mmr with no ill effects.I was wary though and looked into it beforehand as I previously worked with autistic children.I feel the benefits outweigh the side effects and as I am currently expecting my 3rd child,will again be giving the MMR vacine with confidence.
spiller | 22/05/2007 14:27:00
Both my sons had the combined MMR without any serious side effect. My eldest child developed a tempreture and rash after his booster jab as did many of his friends and we were told that the batch of vaccine was too strong. Fortunately there does not seem to have been any ill effects.
Irina | 22/05/2007 15:54:00
My daughter had the combined MMR without any side effects. I feel like I have bene provided with the sufficent information by the Government on this. As a result I felt comfortable with the combined MMR.
Saadia | 22/05/2007 20:28:00
My sister had the combined MMR without any side effects. The pros far outweigh the cons with haven't been proven yet.
Tricia | 23/05/2007 08:19:00
Both my Girls had the combined MMR ,with no ill effects i am glad to say.I know there are some debates with the MMR but i dont think it is worth the risk.
Jan | 23/05/2007 11:31:00
I did not hesitate to have my daughters innoculated with the MMR. They had the combined injection and suffered no after effects.The reason I did not hesitate to have them treated is because my sister-in -law contracted measles as an infant before there was treatment and was left with learning difficulties and profound hearing loss. Measles is definitely a bigger, proven risk than any unproven risk from MMR of Autism. I think it is the duty of everyone to take up the MMR to irradicate these diseases.
clare | 23/05/2007 12:07:00
All of my children, aged 17, 14 and 12 were given the MMR (triple) vaccine. Infact my youngest was given his twice within 2 months due to an admin error! All three children are healthy and suffered no adverse effects. If I was in that position again or with my grand children, when the time comes, I would choose the MMR again. The risks have got to outway the effects of Measles, mumps or rubella.
herneuen | 23/05/2007 12:16:00
My daughter is now 13 and she had the combined MMR vaccine. I tried desperately hard to get the single vaccination - not because of the usual well publicised issues but because the combined vaccine is grown (or certainly was back in the early 1990s) using hen eggs as a growing culture/medium. As a baby my daughter had a serious allergy to eggs. Even touching egg white resulted in a severe rash and swelling to her skin. Despite this, my GP could offer no alternative except to have the vaccination carried out at my local hospital where they had adreneline injections on standby in case she suffered anaphyllactic shock. I therefore had to spend the entire day with my daughter admitted as a day patient which seemed a crazy situation and complete waste of hospital resources. Also I wasn't happy about putting my daughter at risk of a serious reaction to an already known allergy. Thankfully everything was ok and she didn't suffer any serious adverse reaction but it would have been nice to be able to choose the single vaccine alternative.
Paul Critchley | 23/05/2007 12:16:00
We were hestiant about the MMR jab due to the nature of the 'bad press' it had received and we'd cancelled an appointment to have it done so we could balance things out more. However, after a lot of though we went with the MMR and there have, as many others have reported above, been no side effects at all.
Mark | 23/05/2007 12:20:00
Our daughter had the combined MMR, with no ill effects or problems. We spoke with our GP about it first, he was very good, we took away some litrature on it and made our decision based on the information we had. I agree with other comments the Pros outweigh the Cons.
Nicky | 23/05/2007 12:43:00
All my three children have had the MMR with no obvious side affects. My eldest child who is 10 did get suspected mumps about 2 years ago although investigated there was no obvious explanation.
julie | 23/05/2007 13:24:00
My three children all had the MMR jabs and none of them suffered any adverse effects at all.All my friends kids had the jabs and none of them reported side effects.
Gracie | 23/05/2007 13:43:00
I have three children and all three have had the MMR with no adverse side-effects. Of course it remains to be seen whether any children suffer any long-term side-effects from it - I only hope this isn't the case. The press have a duty to inform but all of us must make up our own minds and be aware of the fact that anything written in the press can be blown out of proportion or later disproved. I still feel that the possible risks of the MMR were far outweighed by the security it offered my children from potentially fatal illnesses. I do feel great sympathy however with those parents who were not as lucky as me though.
laura | 23/05/2007 13:54:00
all 3 of my kids had the mmr, with no side affects. i would always innoculate my kids to prevent these diseases.
laura | 23/05/2007 13:54:00
all 3 of my kids had the mmr, with no side affects. i would always innoculate my kids to prevent these diseases.
Amanda Cook | 23/05/2007 13:54:00
Both my boys had the combined MMR with no ill effects. I was not offered the single vacination but considered it vital that they had the MMR and at the time I would probably not have considered it as an option. In view of the overwhelming evidence that supports the combined MMR and the consequences to children who do not have the vaccination, the decision from my point of view was the correct one.
Jayne | 23/05/2007 13:58:00
Back in 1996 when my daughter was born there was none of the media interest in the MMR as there is now. I didn't think twice about letting my daughter have the injection.
Wendy | 23/05/2007 15:14:00
Our daugther had MMR jab and she was fine. We decided for her to have the jab becauce we didn't want her to get ill. We don't know of any child that has had any side effects from the MMR jab.
GlendaO | 23/05/2007 16:21:00
I have a biochemistry degree and from a scientific point of view the research that was published was very flawed in many ways. People think things in science and medicine are written in stone but research can be subject to a persons interpretation. I didn't hesitate to give my three children the MMR combined vaccine. I think if people were made more aware of the the problems and complications of measles mumps and rubella there would be a bigger uptake. Meningitis caused by measles can leave a child severely brain damaged alone. But it is the parent's decision to do what they think is right for their child.
GlendaO | 23/05/2007 16:25:00
I forgot to say one of the problems with the link between autism and the combined MMR is that autism is usually diagnosed after the MMR is given so it is an easy target. My kids had the usual high temp but nothing paracetamol couldn't sort.
Jules | 23/05/2007 16:29:00
I had my kids in 1992 and 1994 and had absolutely no hesitation in letting both of them have all the jabs offered to them including MMR. The way I looked at it was that, the side-effects were rare and outweighed the effects of what would happen if they came down with the illness. This is still my attitude even after all the publicity/controversay surrounding the triple jab. My advice would be have the triple jab, I didn't think twice.
Mandy | 23/05/2007 19:55:00
When my 2nd son was vaccinated I was offered the jab for my 1st son. Both of them were done and both of them were fine. This was in the early 90's. My daughter is now 17 months and obviously a lot has happened since the boys were vaccinated. We did consider having the seperate jabs but in our area this is only available if you pay privately and to be honest when we looked at the information that was available we didn't see the point. Freya has had her MMR jab and see was fine, no reaction at all. Having seen first hand what measles did to someone I know when she was a small child, not being vaccinated just wasn't an option. The publicity that was generated in the so called link to Autism would have been better put to use showing people what some of these illnesses can actually do if your child contracts them.
karon | 23/05/2007 22:29:00
I have 4 children aged 21, 18, 5 and 3. My oldest 3 children were given the triple vaccine and suffered no adverse effects, I felt the benefits outweighed the risks. I delayed giving my 3year old the vaccine as he was displaying possible signs of autism, and I didnt want to make things any worse for him. When discussing my concerns with my G.P. I was told "your other children have been ok" and was made to feel I was worrying unnecessarily. In the end I did give him the triple vaccine and he is on the autistic spectrum but I dont believe having the jab caused the autism as he was showing symptons before he had it.
Dreamcatcher | 23/05/2007 23:43:00
My two boys both had the MMR with no after effects. The possible consequences of giving them the triple jab when compared with the possible consequences of them not having them, meant it was no contest. As a Learning Disability Nurse, I was aware of the consequences of them not being protected, and was not prepared to gamble with their safety.
Sonia Mullings | 24/05/2007 00:26:00
I have two children and both were immunised, I did not even think about it. I have family who work in health care and am aware of the affects that illnesses can have on young children and the possibility of them dying from them. I have seen the publicity against it and I am unconvinced that there are adverse affects. I personally know of a child who when born was seen as normal, once she reached 3 years old she started to regress, lost language and was later diagnosed as been autistic, however this was pre the the multiple jab. My children did have slight reactions to the immunisation but felt that this was normal. I watched the last Panorama programme that covered this issue and was astounded that the parents who were against the MMR were totally unwilling to look at the research and facts and were purely working on one piece of dubious research which no one else has backed up. The scaremongering and the fact that parents seem unwilling to accept that sometimes noone or nothing is to blame, it is just one of those things. They know very little about autism really and many people have gone undiagnosed but being aware of the wide spectrum involved, I feel that it is unlikely to be a link. The link may only be the fact that when they receive the MMR not the MMR itself. People should be aware of the decrease in uptake actually can lead to worse variants of the illnesses. I personally think that how I feel about my children, I would rather them be here rather than risk losing them to an illness like measles.
Amanda Harris | 24/05/2007 09:49:00
My daughter received her MMR several years ago with no side effects. I remember that my GP seemed to know little about the controversy that was taking place with the MMR at that time. My daughter is now 8 and I'm happy with my decision to vaccinate especailly as it has since become apparent that the scare was based upon poor research evidencce.
Laura | 24/05/2007 09:53:00
My daughter had the MMR and I was pleased with it. She did develop a light rash on the night of the jab, but that was gone the following day. I researched the subject a little bit at the time, because of the controversy surrounding it, and because some friends were opting for the separate jabs, but came to the conclusion that there was not enough evidence against it, and I would have put my child at greater risk not going with it. As to the autism issue, I do remember a specialist saying that the disease is there before the time of the mmr anyway, and can be detected by a professional at a very young age (i.e. before the MMR age). If I had another child, they definitely would have the MMR too.
lou | 24/05/2007 10:05:00
My son who is now 6 was diagnosed with a life-threatening egg allergy and we had heard that the MMR contained egg. We sought the advice of our then health visitor who told us under no circumstances were we to get the MMR but were to contact a dr who was giving them as a single doses for which she gave us the number. We therefore took him down to a clinic in Elstree and had the single vaccination done. A year later a Measles scandal broke out with regards to the clinic where we had got our son vaccinated, they were in essence giving out bogus shots, luckily my son didn't fall into that particular time frame and he did indeed receive a measles vaccine. But as parents we felt that we had been pushed between a rock and a hard place ie an NHS representative had told us NOT to have the MMR because of the egg allergy and sent us to this clinic in Elstree which turned out to be basically a money making scam. Following this I had a look into the MMR and the autism link and after all the gumph that I've read I believe that it's not in essence the triple dose that's the problem, it's the adjuvants that were putting in there with it ie mercury, which is causing problems. Europe banned the use of mercury as an adjuvant years ago and the US followed suit about 5 years ago. When a trial is usually published about the positives of the MMR they are usually done in a European country were mercury is no longer used as an adjuvant, doesn't that then mean that the vaccines on the continent are slightly different to those being given out here? I went further and asked to see a list of ingredients of the shots that were going into my son courtesy of the NHS. This is not allowed, they are protected by the government, a priviledge that the pharmaceuticals pay them for. As a mother of a child with an immune system primed to kill him with substances as benign as egg and nuts I feel it is my right to know what is going into his body, but I was denied. I have mixed feelings about the MMR, yes I think that you should innoculate your children but that better guidance and oppenness on the part of the government and NHS is needed. Iinstead of poo-pooing the idea that there is anything wrong with the MMR, they should do some empirical testing on its efficacy here in this country, I don't believe that so many mothers can be wrong about the negative effects its had on their sons/daughers.
Justine Whipp | 24/05/2007 10:08:00
I ummed and aahhed about giving my little boy the vacine. I chose to wait a little longer before he was vaccinated. Luckily I have had no problems since the injection. I was upsat that Tony blair would neither confirm or deny that his youngest child leo had had the combined vacination or paid for his son to have the single injections. There is still not enough reasearch into the effects of vacination and autism... when as a parent you make the decision to have the vacine its a 50/50 chance that something untowars will happen. To have to live with the consequences of giving your child the vacine and for that child to then develop any sort of problem must be horrendus to live with.
Sharon Spink | 24/05/2007 10:22:00
All 3 of my children (19, 17 & 15 months) have had the vaccine with no side effects.
Sarah | 24/05/2007 10:38:00
I have three children. All had the MMR with no problems. I decided that all the fuss was down to just one doctor, the media looking for increased circulation and desperate parents looking for a reason for their child's autism. I also felt that the level of risk was far outweighed by the level of risk of not having the vaccination - both to my own children and to everyone else if measles ever became prevalent again.
Joan...Sawbo | 24/05/2007 10:40:00
My son had the MMR vaccination and I had no problems before during or after. I was aware of the complications arising from measles if he didn`t have the jab, so this did sway me to opt for the vaccine.
JO | 24/05/2007 10:58:00
Both my children have had the vaccination and both were fine no problems at all.
Caro R | 24/05/2007 11:13:00
My 4 year old has had the combined MMR and just recently the booster and was absolutely fine each time. I drove myself mad with worry about the whole thing and wish I hadn't. I know lots of people who paid to have them done individually but I'm glad I didn't go down that route. I also know some people who haven't vaccinated their kids and I think they're mad - the risks ARE known and are not worth taking.
Veronica Machin | 24/05/2007 11:42:00
My children have had no problems with the MMR vaccination and no side effects.
Phil Wall | 24/05/2007 12:22:00
I live in Spain and there is absolutely no controversy here over the MMR vaccine. Before my son had it I questioned the doctor about possible risks and she became quite irate stating that as far a she and the health authorities in Spain were concerned there was absolutely no danger. My son suffered no ill effects.
Sue, East Yorkshire | 24/05/2007 12:33:00
Only one of my children have had any immunisation jabs, that being my eldest. In my experience, when my eldest is ill he's ill for days if not weeks. My other children heal faster, are much healthier and when they fall ill, they're ill for a couple of days before bouncing back. I personally wouldn't recommend any jabs for any child, let their natural immune system build up rather than supplementing it with needless injections that, (in my case for certain), appear to hinder rather than help.
Dan | 24/05/2007 13:45:00
I have 3 children, none of which have had any vaccinations. I chose not to have my children vaccinated after a thorough research of the literature. I did not take this decision lightly and still feel some anxiety as to wether I chose to do the right thing. My children are very healthy, but i suffer from M.E/C.F.S and as such feel my children may be more likely to suffer adverse reaction due to genetic susceptibilty. This is my own view and not neccasirly science based, but there is a big enough question mark for me not to actively put something into my children that may cause their immune system to react in an abnormal way (such as M.E/C.F.S). My G.P has been accepted this decision very well and does not question my motives as she knows this is an educated decision, I have however come under quite alot of pressure form my health visitor and it has caused problems when my children have been admitted into hospital for any reason, such as falls and grommet insertion in the case of my daughter. Opinion from medics is very much weighted towards immunisation and often medics have not taken the time to consider the options.
Amanda | 24/05/2007 14:23:00
My husband was very concerned about the MMR when it was offered to our daughter having heard about the 'autism risk' in the media. I, on the other hand, had no such worries. I did not believe that there was sufficient evidence to support the autism claim but the effects of the dreadful illnesses the MMR protects against are undeniable. Naturally I would have been heartbroken should anything untoward happened but I knew that it was her best chance of protection. Thankfully, she has been absolutely fine and i wouldn't hesitate to make the same decision again.
Michelle | 24/05/2007 14:58:00
My son now aged 4 had the combined jab along with my nephew who is 6 and neither have had any problems. I was unsure at 1st what to do but spoke to my sister in law who is 11years younger than me and she said the only consideration she gave was what the effects might be if my nephew hadnt had the injection. This made me think and I decided that she was right and I went ahead and had my son immunised and have no regrets!! My sister in law was only 19 at the time and I felt really silly that she was so wise and that I hadnt even looked at that point of view. Too many people worry about the side effects of having the injection not what happens if their child gets measels etc.
Sharon, Holmfirth | 24/05/2007 15:08:00
I have two children, both boys who are 10 & 13 they had the MMR vaccination when they were infants and had no adverse reactions afterwards. I made the decision for my children to have the vacination even though I was aware that there was a possible link to autism.
Mandy, Yorkshire | 24/05/2007 15:37:00
I have 3 children, the older 2 have had the MR & the youngest will have it too at 13 months. I didn't read a single thing given to me by the health visitor as I don't trust the NHS & the government to circulate the whole story on anything so I set out to research the matter for myself. After comparing the chances of my child becoming autistic versus being damaged by measles it was a no-brainer descision. I have to add that after performing my own research I don't believe for 1 minute that there is any kind of link between the MMR vaccination & autism save the 2 occuring around the same age. Re effects of the vaccine, both my sons had a mild fever & measles like rash approx 2 weeks after the jab. This was very mild & life went on as normal after 5ml of Calpol. A small price to pay for the protection they're recieving. Any parent having second thoughts about the MMR should meet a child affected by measles or be told about the pain of a couple left unable to have a baby due to the man having had mumps. I think they'd soon change their mind.
Lisa | 24/05/2007 16:03:00
My son had no side affects apart from the normal being grumpy for a few hours after. From what i can remember he did go to sleep earlier than normal but awoke ok the next day. We were given as much information that the health visitor had and spoke to friends and family about any possible adverse affects their children had suffered and decided the positives far outweighed the risks. Although was annoyed with Tony Blair for not confirming whether his son had received the vaccination - although took heart at how many celebs confirmed that there children had received the MMR vaccine.
brenda | 24/05/2007 16:08:00
my son had MMR and sufer NO complications, i also was offered the vaccine 3 years ago and decided to go ahead and have it, again with no complications!!
Sarah C | 24/05/2007 16:28:00
I have two children aged 9 and 7. The eldest had the MMR at 15mths but all the hysteria put me off giving her the booster, so she hasn't had it. Then my youngest has not had either but I did manage to get the measles vaccine done separately, by the now disgraced doctor at Elstree. I know he has antibodies because when they drew blood for something else I made them test for them, actually paid extra as they were not keen to do it, and eventually got a result back to say he had them. I haven't got round to doing Mumps and rubella yet which I certainly would have done if it was more widely available. My reasons not not optong for the MMR stemmed from reading the book "The Vaccination Bible" which scared the pants off me and I wish I hadn't read it. Also I had seen documentaries of children who had had bad reactions. Also Wakefield's study seemed plausible, as it must be better for the body to catch these things naturally i.e. through the mucous membranes rather than injecting into the bloodstream, although I accept that his study was small and it perhaps was not handled as it should have been. My main concern was that I didn't trust government officials not to cover up a calamity (remember CJD!) and even if the risk was 20,000,000 to one it was still too much to be left with a damaged child if that could be avoided by having the injections separtely or not at all. We still don't know if Leo Blair had it do we! Having said that I have spoken to friends about it more recently who are GP's who have given it to their own kids so I am beginning to relax a bit on it. I can trust doctors who have no qualms giving it to thier own kids more than I can trust civil servants who wouldn't admit anything was wrong even if it could be proved! I hope that makes sense!
Margaret | 24/05/2007 20:56:00
Both of my children had the combined MMR I was not given much information however neither of them have had any side effects and never caught the illnesses even when I had mumps myself last year.
Amanda | 24/05/2007 22:08:00
All of my six children have had no problems as a result of the jabs
Antoinette | 24/05/2007 22:10:00
All three of my children had the combined MMR vaccines and did not have any adverse reactions at al. My eldest child is 19years and the MMr was very new when she had it and I had very little information. My youngest child is just four now and I had no reservations about giving her the MMR. I felt that the risk of her getting very ill from catching measles was far greater than any risk from the MMR.
Ian Thompson | 25/05/2007 07:15:00
We have three boys, aged 7, 5 and 3, all of whom have had the single vaccinations for MMR. We both felt at the time that although Dr Wakefield's research was rubbished by the establishment, we were not prepared to play russian roulette with our boys - especially as a friend had experienced autism with his son straight after the MMR combined jab. While we accept that the MMR vaccination is safe in the majority of cases, the fact that there is an awful lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that it is not ENTIRELY safe lead us to choose single applications. However, this has proven not to be without problems: our oldest son Harry was given his initial injections at a Clinic run at Elstree Aerodrome (on the recommendation of the JAB website). Although we took this advice on good faith, it turned out that this quack was not storing the drugs correctly, with the net effect that they were pretty much useless. Clearly, we would have liked to strangle this bloke, but, alas, he has disappeared, taking a substantial amount of money with him. We now have our boys treated at the Wellcare Clinic in Plymouth (Wellcare are based in Bath, but have Clinics throughout the UK) and are very pleased with both the professionalism (the Doctor is an NHS GP) and the results so far.
Rosemary W | 25/05/2007 09:08:00
I wanted my Son to have the single vaccines, however, I was told by the surgery that they didn't have any available, and that I would therefore have to have the combined MMR instead. With reservations I agreed, after the nurse assurred me that it would be fine. Unfortunately, my Son DOES now have Aspergers SYndrome, ADHD and ODD. When he was diagnosed at around the age of 5, we were devastated. I can't say for certain that it was the MMR vaccine that caused my Son's conditions, but I now live with the guilt that I didn't hold out and insist upon waiting for the single vaccines to become available at the surgery!
Tara | 25/05/2007 09:37:00
My eldest son had the combined MMR after we had been told that it would all be fine. He went on to develope ITP which is basically a bleeding disease. There is an established link with the MMR and ITP. I have been asking for help regarding this ever since, (he is now due his second MMR), but nobody has been able to come with any answers and they all just pass the buck, from the Immunisations nurse, to the GP, to the Consultant. The lack of information and the lack of commitment from the medical profession has been frustrating and angering. I know more about it then any of the other people mentioned above. When i take documentation along with me, or ask them to look it up on the internet, they say "Oh yes i had forgotten about that!" or "So it does". So although they tell you it is all safe and fine and that there are no established side effects, i can tell you that there are. Do a search on MMR ITP, you find the same links. God knows what else is also out there that they 'forget' about. ITP is frightening, my son's nose bled, his gums bled, his eyes ble for more than 3 days, he was covered in deep black bruises and red blood spots for more than 2 weeks. He spent a week in hospital in a padded cot, because any knocks to his head could have caused brain hemoraging. He had to have a platlet infusion to restore his platlets (they keep the blood in the veins, his were so low, that he was bleeding out of his veins.) Although, the links say that MMR caused by ITP is often the 'milder' type, i can tell you again, in my experience, this was not mild. It was not a one off experience, when Ben is run down, the ITP appears again. Not to the same terrifying extent as the first time, but it is still there.
Heather | 25/05/2007 10:37:00
I had no worries about giving my daughter her MMR but after a couple of days after having it she became ill and was hardley eating anything after another couple of days we were struggling to get her to drink we had taken her to a doctor when she would not eat and they said she had a viral infection but after she would not drink we saw another doctor who told us she was suffering side effects of the jab.Thankfully she was fine after 2 weeks and i really did not want her to have the second jab but after some thought we did and she was great so i dont regret doing it.
Kim | 25/05/2007 12:09:00
Both of my children had the MMR jab. My son is 10 and my daughter is 7, they had no side effects and are relatively healthy children, neither of them plaigued with illness. Neither have had measles or mumps, fingers crossed. I dont know what all the big fuss is about!!!
Lyndsey | 25/05/2007 12:24:00
Neither of my two children have had the jab. My eldest was due to have it at a time of of intensive media coverage and so I contacted a government run MMR helpline to ask why my son needed to have a rubella vaccination, as it would be pregnant females who needed protection. Got a typical political response about "that is the policy and we feel it is necessary for all" and I felt that they didn't even try to understand my question, let alone answer it. I also waited anxiously to see if the Blairs would say if Leo had had the MMR - still no comment. After the incident with John Gummer feeding his five year old daughter a burger to deny the existence of BSE, I felt that I could't trust the government line and so I decided that rather than I take a decision to inflict some man-made chemical, about which doubts had been raised, upon my children I would rather trust in nature - after all I had both Measles and Mumps as a young child, very close together, and suffered no after effects. However, I still worry alot about whether I have done the right thing.
jojo | 25/05/2007 12:25:00
hi i have had all my 5 children vaccinated with mmr (and all the others) without hesitation. As i am also a practice nurse who gives the injections I do encourage parents to have their children immunised but am aware that the final choice is theirs. MMR is probably now the vaccine with the most research done on it and as a consequence one of the safest. As a health professional, I am unable to advise on single jabs due to the lack of research and can only point parents to the internet. THe clinics providing the single jabs are profit making, and while i would not suggest for one second that they would knowingly put a child at risk, as a mother I would question their priorities.
Jennifer Hulford | 25/05/2007 12:26:00
My two children aged 5 & 7 both had the combined jabs at the appropriate age, during all the media hype.There was plenty of information available and despite the associated risks, I was happy to go ahead. It would take some very serious evidence to the contrary to persuade me not to do the same again and unfortunately much of the information around at the time was ill-informed media reaction. There are always going to be exceptions and problems that occur but I do believe the benefits of vaccination far, far outweigh the risks. As someone who has a life-threatening disease, I have great faith in the NHS, who provide a fantastic service, given the limited resources available.
Susie | 25/05/2007 12:39:00
My son has not had MMR. By the time he was two it was starting to be a question as to his development as he was not talking or communicating normally. I read up Andrew Wakefield's studies and I talked to the surgery and made the decision to hold off - I was more worried by the USA studies which question the rpreservatives used in the mixture - sometimes they contain mercury and there's no way I would let even a miniscule amount of that into my baby. I asked the nurse at the surgery what the preservatives had been for the jabs my son had already had and she hadn't got a clue - eventually we tracked it down and it wasn't mercury, but an unpleasant-sounding mix of aluminium salts. I think it's up to the individual parent and I certainly would object to being compelled to have injections. My heart goes out to the mother whose child had MMR ITP - sounds terrifying. I would much prefer that the doctors were totally honest about the fact that all intervention medically carries risks and let us know what these specific risks are, instead of the way we parents are treated as if we were ignorant and could not handle any negative information.
Gibby Keys | 25/05/2007 12:53:00
I have 5 children - the first three had the combined jab. The two eldest had no ill effects - the third cried like a cat for several days and nights and seemed to withdraw into himself. He was later diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. My younger two children had seperate vaccinations as a result of this experience.
Gibby Keys | 25/05/2007 12:56:00
Oh that's interesting - I just read the entry re. ITP. My third son who reacted badly to the combined vaccine later went on to develop ITP but this is the first time I hhave read that there may be a link. He was admitted to hospital for a week and had platelet transfusions because his platelet count was zero. At the time we were told that there were another couple of cases in the regiion though he was the only one to receive transfusions.
Jane | 25/05/2007 13:22:00
All 3 of my kids had jabs and had no side effects. I sympatise with parents who have had problems after the jabs. As a parent in most case you weight out the risks. You do not want the what ifs.
Rebekah | 25/05/2007 14:22:00
My girl did not have the MMR vaccine, instead had single vaccines with i paid for. I will do the same for my baby when she is due hers. I did this because i believe there is no smoke without fire. I had a nagging doubt at the back of my mind about the MMR and would never have forgiven myself if there were any lasting effects.
mandy66 | 25/05/2007 15:15:00
all of my children had the mmr with no ill effects glad i had them done saves worrying about getting it
Catherine | 25/05/2007 16:45:00
My 2 year old daughter has had the MMR jab, plus all the others available to her with no side effects or problems.
annette orphan | 25/05/2007 17:59:00
ive had 5 children who are now between the ages of 21-13 they all had the jabs with no side effects
Joy | 25/05/2007 23:04:00
My eldest daughter had the MMR vaccine. A few weeks later she became very ill and began having convulsions. She was hospitalised and they thought there was a link with the MMR vaccination. The convulsions continued for a number of harrowing years. We have since found out that the mumps part of the vaccine can trigger convulsions in some children. My youngest daughter had the single measles vaccine at the Elstree Dr's and suffered no side effects. Interestingly we tested immunity on both children 4 years after immunisation. The singly vaccinated child had antibodies, the MMR child had not. We cannot now source a single vaccine to cover our "MMR" child. Apparently the only sure way of permanent immunity to these diseases is by naturally contracting them. Whilst there is a scare on this front, it is also true that the older you are when contracting these illnesses, the worse the syptoms are. There is no guarantee how long these vaccines "work" for and we have had cases of groups of teenagers becoming very ill with these diseases after immunisation as children. There is also talk of vaccines for chicken pox....Too many immunisations?? You cannot even obtain single doses for polio now and are offered this only with 3 or 4 other vaccines. Why are we not given options?
Joy | 25/05/2007 23:05:00
My eldest daughter had the MMR vaccine. A few weeks later she became very ill and began having convulsions. She was hospitalised and they thought there was a link with the MMR vaccination. The convulsions continued for a number of harrowing years. We have since found out that the mumps part of the vaccine can trigger convulsions in some children. My youngest daughter had the single measles vaccine at the Elstree Dr's and suffered no side effects. Interestingly we tested immunity on both children 4 years after immunisation. The singly vaccinated child had antibodies, the MMR child had not. We cannot now source a single vaccine to cover our "MMR" child. Apparently the only sure way of permanent immunity to these diseases is by naturally contracting them. Whilst there is a scare on this front, it is also true that the older you are when contracting these illnesses, the worse the syptoms are. There is no guarantee how long these vaccines "work" for and we have had cases of groups of teenagers becoming very ill with these diseases after immunisation as children. There is also talk of vaccines for chicken pox....Too many immunisations?? You cannot even obtain single doses for polio now and are offered this only with 3 or 4 other vaccines. Why are we not given options?
Chrissie | 25/05/2007 23:41:00
My son had the MMR vaccine. The nurse at the surgery answered any quetions before he was given it. He had no reactions at all.
Vivienne | 26/05/2007 11:17:00
All three of my children had the combined MMR. The nurse was very helpful. All three were fine with no side effects. Although the scares are worrying you have to take all comments into account. I think the possibility of contracting the illlnesses and the potential damage is worth the risk.
Chris Jeffries | 26/05/2007 11:59:00
Our three children all had MMR in 1987/89 and 92, after detailed discussion with the consutant in public health who went through the pros and cons.
Josie | 26/05/2007 16:06:00
My 2 boys had the MMRand were fine, only the expected side effects.y nephew has autism but I know that autism is a complicated genetic desease
vanessa hill | 26/05/2007 17:25:00
both my children have recived the MMR vaccine, we never heard anything about these problems until recently my children are now 15 and 11 neither of them has had any ill effects,i believe that they need to have these vaccines as the illness itself is worse.
Myself. | 26/05/2007 21:15:00
Both my boys have had the MMR. I decided that giving them the jab was protecting them, and if I didn't and they became unwell I would have failed. I do not beleive that it 'causes' autism. I work with Autistic Children, and feelt hat the signs of autism are picked up around the age of MMR jabs, only because that is when they should be developing and may not be. Both my children are fine. however saying that, misleading and contradictory infomration is bombarded on parents who only want the best for their children. If I had been scared, I would not have give them the jabs. More research and unbiased information, plsu the options of having the immunisations together or singularly should be offered. Surely this is why we pay our NI contributions!
Moi | 27/05/2007 20:35:00
All my kids have had full injections according to what was available at the time. (Ages 30, 23, 12) My youngest now 12 received MMR with no reaction at all and has through her life been an outrageously healthy child
Jamloe | 29/05/2007 05:35:00
When my eldest was due the MMR 10 years ago I held back as I had reservations after working as a nursery nurse supporting a boy whose learning difficulties began following the MMR vaccine. I asked my healthvisitor about the single jabs but was told that they were only available privately and at a cost. I was provided with enough information to enable me to make an informed decision and after weighing up the pros and cons, my daughter received the MMR vaccine with no adverse effects. When my youngest was born in 2003 I had no hesitation and went ahead with the immunisation. He did not suffer any adverse effect from the MMR and is now a healthy, happy 4year old. Outbreaks of diseases such as theses are on the increase but with the decline in the uptake of childhood immunisations, is it any wonder. Whilst the choice to immunise or not is ultimately personal preference, I feel that parents need reminding of the risks associated with these diseases as they far outweigh the risks from vaccination.
Hoddy | 29/05/2007 15:32:00
Neither of my children have had the innoculations - I don't believe in giving them so many vaccines in one hit. Furthermore, being boys they don't need the Rubella vaccine - they're not likely to get pregnant - and the vaccine itself doesn't last and isn't that effective. Too many members of my own family have had to be reinjected with the vaccine before starting a family, despite having the vaccine when they were younger. I would like the individual vaccines for measles and mumps - but that's not going to happen. As for putting the chickenpox vaccine in with the MMR - for heavens sake - let kids develop their own immune systems. My health visitor was about as useful as a chocolate fireguard - but I was able to have a sensible discussion about not giving the MMR to my sons - and he agreed with my reasoning - only to add that if I had read the weekend papers - then perhaps it would be possible for men to have babies in the future. To those that say the illnesses they are preventing are far worse - no not in all cases - and having had measles, german measles and mumps as a child with no adverse effects....I can't be convinced that the combined vaccines are a good idea.
linda | 29/05/2007 16:11:00
My ten year old had no reaction to the jab and i wanted her to have because of the risks associated with the deseases.
davy | 29/05/2007 16:49:00
Our son had the MMR vaccination but my wife did not wish our daughter to have it.
jane aranhol | 29/05/2007 18:30:00
my daughter had it and has had no problems with it and to be honest i want my daughter to have the chance of every protection possible, even if it means she might be the one chance that goes wrong. the alternative does not bear thinking about, and anything that we can try to do to eradicate these deseases is fine by me
lindsay | 29/05/2007 18:39:00
My partner and I were not sure whether to go for the MMR or single vaccines. I spoke to my health visitor and practise nurse about the recent scares and I was told that the single jabs cost around £300.00 and that there was a waiting list. I felt pressured by both the nurse and the health visitor to have the MMR as they only told me about the risks associated with not having the jab and none of the risks with having it. In the end we opted for the MMR after researching the side affects and weighing up the potential risks of not having the MMR and then having to wait for single jabs. My son was fine after the jab and had no side effects. He is a happy healthy toddler.
franfay | 29/05/2007 18:46:00
my first two children had the measles and rubella at different times, then when the mmr came about they had that, then they had it again when the schools had mass vaccinations.I must admit that they had no side effects. My youngest, born quite a few years later just had the mmr but the nurse was not happy doubling it up with her menigitus jab so she had the mmr on its own. Still no side effects or adverse reactions. My brother was one of the first to have the measles jab whilst my sister and I both had measles, rubella and mumps with no apparent lasting side effects, but my brother had Crohns diagnosed when in his twenties
Andy | 29/05/2007 21:11:00
I have 2 girls age 4 and 6. They both had the MMR jab and both where fine with no side effects. Children have been having these jabs for years now and only a small handfull of them have serious side effects. I think the benefit out weigh the risks in the long run. I had the MMR when I was a kid and I am fine.
Susijen | 29/05/2007 21:31:00
All the fuss over MMR had already happened when my daughter was born in 2000. Living in the North, we weren't offered any alternative to the triple injection. We decided that as the USA have been using the triple injection and their courts aren't full of parents suing, the vaccine must be fairly safe! My daughter was ill on the morning of the first jab, so I phoned and cancelled the appointment. The following week and hour before our appointment we gave our daughter a dose of paracetamol to help with any pain and when we turned up were congratulated by the health visitor for making the right decision. She gave our daughter the injection very carefully and the experience was good for all of us. There were no after effects. I have a friend who is very much against the MMR vaccine but admits that everytime her son falls ill, she's worried that he's caught something serious! I'm relieved that we went down the MMR route.
Amanda | 29/05/2007 21:42:00
I have 4 children and all have had the MMR. I worried each time that I may be harming them, and every time monitored them closely for a reaction, but they were all fine - I still think 13months is too young for all those injections at once, and think about 2 is more sensible.
Roy J | 29/05/2007 22:07:00
Our Daughter is now almost 9 years old. We took a long time thinking about the Pro's and Con's, but decided NOT to go ahead with the Combined Jab. I know this has possibly left her not fully protected against these virus, but we didn't want to take the risk. As they say there isn't smoke with a fire.
fooyum | 29/05/2007 22:08:00
Both my girls have had the MMR vaccine and both are absolutely fine. I spoke to my doctor about my concerns and she assured me it was the right thing to do - she had her two children vaccinated around the same time. I think there has been a lot of scaremongering and unfortunately this has resulted in an increase in Measles which can be extremely serious and sometimes fatal. We need parents to have their children immunised to stop an epidemic.
Julia G | 29/05/2007 22:53:00
My 3 boys 6, 3 and 1.5 have all had the MMR with no reaction other than a slight temperature (which could have been anything). There's a fine line between feeling "pressured" by the NHS and being given information, depnding on your point of view and openness to conspiracy theories. I agree with Matt (I think) who said that we are all amateurs in this field and can only take a decision on the balance of probabilites - hundreds of thousands of children protected from serious diseases against a sample size of 10 in "Dr" Wakefield's study. We should be more concerned about the rise of profit-making independent clinics. In my eldest's antenatal group the 6 of us split half and half between combined and single jabs. I delayed the MMR for a couple of months as my eldest had continual colds. He was still fully protected by the combined vaccine over a year before the complete programme of single jabs had been completed. I call it foolhardy to go down the single jab route.
vikki - poole | 30/05/2007 04:54:00
all 3 of my children had the combined jab without much hesitation. no side effects etc. i was happy with the info received, and my health visitor was so confident about it i didnt have any worries. we have also had the same HV and childrens nurse at our practice since my first was born so i feel very happy to put my faith in them - who have also had their children vaccinated. my GP has children of a similar age, and i asked him if he had vaccinated his - he had and as a GP and qualified Paediatrician that convinced me! my feelings re the autism link is that Autism is not obvious until the age of 18m-2yrs and so it is a sad but honest mistake to link the two. i have no comment re the bowel connection
Ray | 30/05/2007 05:48:00
Both my sons have had the MMR with no side effects , in fact my eldest is doing very well in his exams, also my yonger son who is 7 years yonger he is doing very well , i can not see what all the fuss is about ,if you want your children to have the vaccination then go ahead if not then don't. don't keep making all of a fuss and if your not sure then speke to your GP about it .
Hayley | 30/05/2007 06:55:00
I was 17 when I told to let my child have the MMR. I had never heard of anything going wrong with this jab and thought if there were any risks than I would be told. How naive was I? Second child and exactly the same thing happened. It was only when BOTH of my children were diagnosed with autism that my health visitor asked me 'do you think it has anything to do with the MMR?' 'No' I replied. Why should it? If there could have been a problem with the jab then surely someone would have pointed it out to me? When it came time for the booster I politely refused. Most were understanding but the receptionist at the surgery got a bit nasty and told me that I must see a nurse to talk it over. I told her the nurse wasn't very helpful last time and refused. Looking back, I now wonder if the mmr is linked to Autism. Photos showing my girl just before the jab show a happy child willing to look at the camera, smiling. Just after she looks sad and won't look at the camera.That was the point she lost eye contact. After the Wakefield trials the Government has been very quick to dismiss it but haven't done any trials of their own to disprove Wakefields theory. What are they so scared of finding?
Sam | 30/05/2007 09:15:00
My Husband and I decided to give our son the MMR and he has not suffered any side effects. He is due for his booster next month. We were not convienced that the research showing the links between Autism and the MMR were enough to outweigh the risks of contracting the diseases the vaccine covers. I feel that the whole discussion has not been handled well by the Government or the media, and has left many parents feeling confused and concerned, even guilty.
janice | 30/05/2007 10:08:00
my daughter is now 21 and had the vaccine when it first became available years ago when she was small.She only had the mm because there had been an instance of whooping cough with her brother and she wasnt allowed that paty.but she had no problems with it.
Lorraine | 30/05/2007 10:31:00
I have two sons now aged 15 and 11 and they were immunised before all the hype about MMR. They were fine with absolutely no side effects. I agree with everyone else it is personal choice but do your research don't just say "no" to the triple vaccine because of hearsay.
Victoria Bennett | 30/05/2007 11:34:00
My two little tearaways have both had their MMR injections. There is 5 years difference between the 2. When my daughter had hers in 1991 there wasn't much going around about it, the odd 'side effect' was mentioned but that was all. With my son in 1996 it was different and there was that much hype about the MMR vaccine at that stage I did worry about, but weighing up all the pros and cons I decided to go ahead - held him close and said a little prayer. They are both fine now at 15 and 10 they are both as healthy as can be. If I have another child I will certainly be apprehensive come the MMR stage, but will still go through with it.
k green | 30/05/2007 11:54:00
both my children have received the jab. both of them were fine. it just so happens that when the time the mmr is given is about the same time children are diagnosed with autism so i dont understand why they just dont move the jab 2 a different time.
J Ingram | 30/05/2007 12:44:00
Both of my children had the combined MMR and had no side effects. We opted for this because the benefits far outweighed the risks and I also did not want to put my children through more jabs than necessary. I believe the media are wholly irresponsible in their reporting as they they sensationalise the story rather than reporting the facts. This has led to many parents not immunising their children and a rise in measle cases is, I believe, a direct result.
Anne B | 30/05/2007 15:27:00
My three children all had the the combined MMR with no ill effects but all it is a small risk, which I believe is worth taking
Samantha | 30/05/2007 17:36:00
My 2 daughters are now 10 and 12. They both had the combined MMR with no side effects.I think the risk it poses is minimal and to have separate injections only lines the pockets of private clinics. My youngest daughter was told she should have a booster before she started school but I refused this as she had already had the jab.
Andy R | 30/05/2007 19:06:00
All 3 children had the MMR. 1 has since been dx with Autistic spectrum disorder, but it is impossible to attribute to the injection.
Julie | 31/05/2007 00:14:00
Both my children have had the combined MMR with no problems. When the question of increased risk of autism and bowel disorders first came out I made enquires about the percentage of children who had had MMR and then had these problems as against the percentage of children who had not had MMR but had still become autistic or had bowel problems. I found that the ratio in both groups for both disorders were exactly the same. I really do not know what other information anyone needs. I would be interested to find out the harm that has been done to children who have not had the jab because, although I do not normally like the culture of litigation, sloppy researchers and irresponsible media have a serious case to answer
JULIE | 31/05/2007 09:44:00
my child is 11 and had no problems after the jab and if i were to have moor children i would not think twice about the jab
Denise | 31/05/2007 16:11:00
My daughter is now 6 had the MMR jab as a baby followed by the booster just before she started school and suffered no problems whatsoever. I can't remember what advice, if any, I was given, though I did briefly read up on the arguments for and against on the internet. However, as I have seen first hand what catching measles as a child can do and also the serious consequences that occur when a woman contracts rubella whilst pregnant, I had no qualms in letting my daughter have the triple vaccine.
Jayne | 31/05/2007 22:29:00
My 12 year old son had the MMR,didnt have any reason not to give it to him,at the age of 4.5 he was diagnosed autistic,didnt think for one minute that the MMR had caused it,only when all the hipe was in the media I had thoughts "what have I done to my son",but looking back to when he was small he had all the classic signs of autism anyway,I just didnt realise what they were,when my daughter was born 6years after Adam,I was terrified about her having the MMR,but after alot of deliberating with my husband we decided to get her vaccinated,I'm so glad we did,she had no side effects at all and I no she is protected from these horrid diseases for a few more years.
Happy mum | 01/06/2007 20:29:00
Both of my two boys have had the combined MMR and neither of them had any side effects and they are both fit, healthy and loud. They are now 8 & 5. I have to admit there was alot of bad press around at the time, but knowing that it was all just hype, becuase I had the combined jab when I was young and I'm fine. It just seems to be what is a fashionably bad press at the time
Jo | 02/06/2007 16:53:00
Both my boys had the combined jabs and have been absolutely fine. I wouldnt hesistate to have them as I know of children who have caught one of the diseases before they could have been innoculated under the separate scheme.
Saira | 03/06/2007 09:41:00
All my 3 kids have had the jabs as one and they have had no problems touchwood.
Ian | 03/06/2007 21:50:00
Although in nearly every case of MMR vaccination, the child has no serious adverse affects, it worries me that the National Health Service still disputes the fact that in rare cases the child dies. This is not so much a problem of the development of Autism or bowel problems such as crones desease, but the well established FACT that death can occur within 1-7 days after the MMR vacine has been given. All health workers in this country seem to be indoctrinated into giving the standard advice, which is that it is best to have the jab, but they do not point out that death can occur, usually due to violent reaction. In contrast, in the USA they point out that death can occur in very rare circumstances, and they pay a great deal of money to parents of affected children to keep the uptake of the MMR vacine high enough to protect the population. I would appreciate this form of public information and honesty.
mrs Adams | 03/06/2007 21:50:00
All three of my children were born prematurely, first daughter at 27 weeks gestation and twins at 26 weeks. Eight weeks later they all got their first jabs, regardless of the fact they were by that point 34 weeks gestation and about 3lb 1/2oz in weight! All three, like so many other premature babies, had to do so much, breathe when they are not supposed to, digest food when they are not suppost to, combine breathe, suck, swallow when they are not suppose to, deal with enourmos amounts of infections whilst so small and frail, and of top of all they get to be vaccinated as well! In my view, and I bet you can ask any other mother who had their baby in either Intensive Care Baby Unit or Special Care Baby Unit, that if their kids were able to survive all of that and them jabs on top, tnere is no reason to think or doubt that MMR would be any different. All three of my kids, in the meantime, had MMR, and as expected, were absolutely fine! I am very proud mother of three little stars who went through so much, so many times close to death, and they fought it all, and now they are healthy, bouncy and beautiful at the age of 5 1/2 and 3 1/2.
gail | 04/06/2007 10:18:00
3 children 9, 7 and 4 all had MMR without any problems.
Ivan | 04/06/2007 10:52:00
My children, now aged nearly nine and nearly seven, both had the combined MMR jab with no side effects. At the time of the scare about the combined jab I looked carefully at the statistics (sometimes education pays off!) in the more reputable publications, and decided that if there was any risk it was certainly at an acceptable level. Unfortunately, we live in an age where (i) the media feel a need to resort to over-spectacularising stories, and (ii) there is an increasing tendency to pretend that it is possible to completely eliminate risk, which is, of course, absurd. In the case of MMR jabs, we decided that the risk of not having it far outhweighed the possible risk of side effects. The modern preoccupation with trying to present no-risk scenarios compared with the not-too-distant past was recently brought home to me in a TV documentary about John Noakes' time as a Blue Peter presenter. We swa John climbing ladders up Nelson's Column and the rigging at MS Ganges without the aid of safety nets or restraining ropes. At the time, no-one would have given these events a second thought. It is my view, that as a society we need to review our culture on risk versus reward (benefits) and come up with a more balanced perspective.
Denise Jones | 04/06/2007 12:20:00
My Son had the MMR Jab Many years ago when it first came out, He is now 23yrs old and a Healthy young Man for which I am miost thankful for. I think the media do such a lot of hype which has affected people and brought much fear into Families over this issue. These illnesses are very serous and have seious consequences. Mumps causes strerility in Men my First husband suffered this way and became sterile through this, Much pain and heartache by all. I am glad my son was vaccinated .
Diane Ashenden | 04/06/2007 13:00:00
Both my boys now aged 17 & 21 had the MMR vaccination.both had no side affects. The benefits far outweighed the risks. I know some parents find it a worry. I did think at the time what if my child is one of the children that it could cause bad side effects. I had a good talk to our Doctor and Nurse and both put my mind at rest. I would advise any parent to let their child have the vaccination.
Kate | 04/06/2007 13:53:00
My son has had the MMR jab and was perfectly fine. I didn't give any calpol beforehand, as I don't believe in that. No after effects or rashes. I was worried beforehand because of the bad press.
Mrs Jones | 04/06/2007 15:57:00
I have three children 15, 11 & 6. All three had the combined jab. My 11 year old has brain complications that are still under investigation, but I can honestly say the jab has nt caused any problems. Anyone refusing the jab is very silly, each to their own. If immigration was a little more controlled, diseases like measles, mumps & rubella would not be there to worry about.
georgina Chambers | 04/06/2007 19:08:00
My seven year old son has had all his jabs MMR included.He had no trouble after the injections and he has always been very physically well.But he is close to being diagnosed with aspergers syndrome and I can't help wondering if we did the right thing when he was a baby.
elaine maxwell | 04/06/2007 21:04:00
my children are grown up and have children of their own but I did not believe in the mmr vaccine and my children never had it, nor did I have it as a child. For all that the only illness I ever had was measles and my children were all fit and healthy. If, through my having had my children vacinated with the mmr vaccine they had developed autism or brain damage I would not have been able to live with myself as I would have felt that I had been responsible for their illness. My grand children have had all the vaccines and have ailed everything going!!!!!
Jane | 04/06/2007 23:31:00
I have two children and both children have had the combined MMR vaccination with no ill effects. I had already studied information on this vaccination although i was offered additional information before hand. Our family GP also delayed my youngest childs MMR jab until confirmation from his paediatrician due to previous medical problems to check that he was well enough to have the injection, which i thought was very good that he was being safe. I know there is a lot of conflict about this vaccination but all children are different and i realise that some have been very unlucky after this injection but when you think about the other dangers from Measles, Mumps and Rubella for children not having this vaccination, i am all for the MMR vaccination whether combined or single although it makes sense to have the combined then at least it is over and done with a lot quicker for the child.
Liz Harris | 06/06/2007 13:27:00
My daughter is now 11. She had the MMR as one vaccine in 1997, there was no where near the amount of hype there is now so I went ahead and had her vaccinated. She was fine afterwards and never showed any ill effects of having received the MMR jab.
christina bowen | 06/06/2007 13:28:00
i have 4 children ages 3 5 7 9. none of them have had the mmr jab. i refused it due to complicatons to jabs and epilepsy in the family history.although its my choice i feel constantly under pressure to give in by medical professionals. i dont feel they give enough honest infomation to parents and just try pushing you into it.
debra o'hagan | 06/06/2007 13:29:00
Have 2 daughters 3 and 10, both had the vaccine. It did upset my olderones bowel movements for a time .but when my younger girl had the jab she was perfectly fine
Doug Lawson | 06/06/2007 13:49:00
My son recently had the combined MMR jab - because I hadn't had mumps as a child, I decided to join him! Neither of us suffered any ill effects. Our Doctor was very good about explaining all the facts.
Jess | 06/06/2007 13:55:00
My 9 year old daughter had all of the MMR jabs with no problems. When my son (now 7) had his first one was when my problems began....his behabiour changed completely...enough to make me not want to give him the last booster. He also contracted measles a few months after the first jab. I thought long and hard about it for years and as there was no option for him to have the rest as singles he has not had. It could be that my sons problems are just the way he is...but I am not prepared to risk them getting any worse.
Tracy | 06/06/2007 14:51:00
My son was innoculated with MMR and there were no side effects. At the time it was quite prominent in the news and I did worry quite a lot about having Nathaniel vaccinated but in the end when through with it and it was fine. I did research the chances of autism spectrum disorder occuring but as the condition is usually twinned with bowel disorders and food allergies I knew that it would be alright. I'm pleased there is a comprehensive vaccination system in place in the UK as it has saved countless lives and I hope one day we can ensure all countries have such a safety net in place.
Dennis Pomroy | 06/06/2007 15:12:00
I had my children immunised with the MMR and they didn't show any so called harmful effects.They are both parents them selves now and as far as I now they have had the same for thier children. The combined vacination is just as good as the individual ones.Don't get me wrong I feel for parents who have had problems and some quite severe side effects with thier children,but it is far better to get these injections over and done with as quickly as possible thus reducing the stress on the young child and possibly putting them off of further injections in later life that could be life saving.
hayley | 06/06/2007 15:52:00
both my daughters have had the mmr and are fine, my youngest has had every illness and medical problem you can think of but even she had no problems with it. i know someone who reckons her son is autistic from having the jab but she can't offer proof that the jab caused it and the doctors can't prove it didn't, so its equal both sides
Clare | 06/06/2007 19:32:00
Both my daughters (7 and 2) have had the combined MMR jabs. The information I received was well informed. I couldn't have forgiven myself if either of them had got measles. That said if the single jabs had been offered I would've preferred to have had them.
kirsty | 06/06/2007 20:04:00
i have 2 children,both of which had the combined mmr jab,however 3 months after having his,my son who is almost 3 changed overnight,hes currently waiting to see the paeds and salt,as his development went backwards.If i had another child i would NOT be giving them the mmr.
Alison Colton | 06/06/2007 22:30:00
My sons have had the vaccine but both of them had bad side effects, high tempertures, etc.
Maria | 06/06/2007 23:20:00
I have three children - the eldest is 24 and has not had the MMR as it was introduced after his jabs. The youngest 2 have both had the jabs - our youngest is due her pre-school boosters shortly. Neither of them had any ill effects, but they would have been short term. Complications from any of the illnesses involved are far worse and not worth the risk of not vaccinating.
teresa scrimshaw | 07/06/2007 07:21:00
as a mum of 4 and a grandmother of 12, I do worry about the affects of the mmr jab. when my youngest child was due to have her mmr I refused to let her have it. now however she has had her first child and asked for the jab at the same time and both have had no ill effects.So all my worries were for nothing.All I can say is follow your instincts because I still believe that mum knows best.
Terri | 07/06/2007 09:19:00
all 4 of my children have had the triple, 3 daughters and a son, all are fine and had no side effects, when they have their own children i'll advise them as to the benefits of immunisation.
Mark Williams | 07/06/2007 09:31:00
As a parent we come up against hard choices as to whats best for our children, but as parents we must do what we feel is right. Although there had been a lot of bad press about the MMR injection, statisically it is safer for your child to have the injection to generate anti-bodies to fight off the virus than not to have it and rely on chance.
Paula | 07/06/2007 13:50:00
my little boy had the combined vaccine and has had no side affects he was fine afterwards. As a child I had Mumps & Measles and became very ill so I thought the Vaccination was the best thing for my son to have.
Terence | 07/06/2007 14:54:00
As a father I had no resistence to measels as a kid so the MMR vacination for my son was a no brainer and my son had no side affects my opinion for anyone who is undecided is to have the vacination
Clare | 07/06/2007 15:12:00
i have 2 daughters 1 is 13 the other is 6. I also have a 10 year old step daughter. all 3 have had the MMR and they are all fine, they have had know side affects at all.
Alistair | 07/06/2007 15:13:00
I have waited until my children were 2 years old before giving them the MMR. Children are susceptible to many things when very little and they need time for their immune systems to develop. (We have kept them away from dairy products and other common allergens until they were two as well.) Autism generally develops before the age of two. Our theory was to avoid all potentially troublesome things until after two years old. After two years old, the immune systems are better able to handle difficult substances. After two years old, the statistics are hugely in favour of having the MMR. Our son had no side effects. Our daughter will have the MMR in a couple of months.
Lucy | 07/06/2007 15:41:00
I have two children aged 4 and 8. We decided not to give them the MMR. We were given several reminders from the doctors but I advised them I did not want the children to have the jab and that was the end of it. If we were offered the single jab options then we would be first in the queue. We obviously worry about the risk of mumps and measles but are not confident enough in the MMR. I think back to years ago when the government stated clearly there was no risk of lung cancer by smoking...we obviously know very different now!
Nikky | 07/06/2007 15:49:00
Both my children had the jab when recommended. I had no doubts and no worries. I think that the health professionals are the ones to listen to and the General Medical Council and not to one person who has done limited research which the press get hold of and blow out of all proportion. I think the parents who don't let their children have the protection of the MMR are being selfish and doing it to make themselves feel better. Although my daughter had the MMR she actually contracted mumps when she was 6 due to their being a small cluster in north and south west cornwall and this was due DIRECTLY to the selfish parents who failed to get their children immunised and so the illness has begun to resurface again. My daughter had a mild case and had no lasting effects (due to her having the jab) had I not had her immunised, it may have been much worse. The press is much to blame for scaremongering especially with the parents who are natural worriers and don't have much confidence in themselves and their GPs. When my daughter has children I will urge her to listen to the advice of her GP and health visitor and NO ONE else!
Jos | 07/06/2007 16:03:00
Both my children(now aged 5 & 9) had the MMR when they were offered it. I never had any doubts about giving it to them as I was more worried about the risks if I didnt immunize them - I think the media have over inflated the negative risks of MMR by focussing on a small number of anecdotal stories. My children had no problems with it.
Sandra | 07/06/2007 17:00:00
All three of my childern had the MMR. I have to admit I was concerned before we chose to go ahead with it as there always seemed to be some negative story in the press about it but after giving it to my first child who has other major health problems and he was fine with the jag, I then went on to give it to my other 2 childern also.
Eve Mabbutt | 07/06/2007 17:12:00
I was given the MMR, and so was 1 of 4 of my siblings (mother wouldn't have it administered to the youngest 3 when the risks were highlighted). I'm not sure whether or not to allow my son to have the combined vaccine as I'm obviously slightly concerned about the risks which are often mentioned. However I've also heard that to get them administered separately, you have to pay for each of them and this can be expensive. Why is this, and why is the government removing our freedom of choice/speech?
Melanie | 07/06/2007 17:14:00
I have two girls (2 & 7) they both had the triple injection with no side affects. I felt safer with the risks of them having the injection rather than what the outcome may have been if they did not.
gail | 07/06/2007 17:20:00
All 3 of my children have had the combined mmr as I felt completely that the benefits outweighed the risks, if any. No problems at all apart from a slight temperature which you get with most jabs these days. Never had any doubts about giving it to them.
debbie brown | 07/06/2007 17:58:00
i have 5 children and they have all had the triple vaccine without any side effects whatsoever not even a temperature.We felt there are thousands of children vaccinated daily without any effects. No positive proof was available to say to the contrary so why risk our children catching anything. im glad theyre protected thats our job as parents to protect our children.
steff | 07/06/2007 18:02:00
my kids had no problems at all and like alot of others i felt the benefits far out numbered the risks
Luisa | 07/06/2007 18:02:00
both of my children had the combined mmr. i felt the benefits of the vaccination far outweighed the risks. Neither of them had any side effects from the vaccination. i had measles and mumps as a young child and did not want my children to be that poorly.
Sarah | 07/06/2007 21:29:00
All three of my children 4,6 & 17, had the MMR jab, none of them had any ill effects. I think the media has a lot to answer for in stirring up hysteria about the combined jab. I did not hesitate to immunise my children, I think it would have been irresponsible not to. Many people seem to have no idea about the seriousness of young children getting diseases such as measles. To my knowledge there has been no conclusive evidence that the MMR is responsible for the increase in autism or crohn's disease. Scanning through other comments on this page (I admit I haven't read them all!) there doesn't seem to be anyone who thinks the triple jab harmed their children in any way...what does that tell you?
llacpage | 07/06/2007 22:02:00
i have three children 21 17 and 2and a half all three have had the mmr in fact my middle boy has had it twice as he underwent a spleenectomy and it was suggestd that he had all his "baby" innoculations again to boost his immune system. none of my kids suffered any ill effects.
twiggs | 08/06/2007 09:31:00
i have three children 10,8,2 all had the mmr and none had any side effects my 2 year old also had the new vac out the pneumo and had no promblens there
Sarah | 08/06/2007 09:33:00
Our son had the MMR with no side effects. I think the potential damage of illnesses outweighs the occasional adverse reaction. Anyone can have an adverse reaction to anything. Just very bad luck if it's one's own child, of course. Neither side of the family has any allergies or illnesses and we have no recessive red-hair genes. If my child had one of these characteristics I would have gone for the single. I agree with the person who talked about Blair's leadership on this. But then, that's lawyers for you - they give you both sides but never any real advice.
calloo | 08/06/2007 09:34:00
i gave both of my children the mmr vaccine with no problems i have friends with autistic children all say they noticed differences with their children before the mmr vacination and dont blame it personally i think some people need something to blame or a reason for their childs disability i know in that situation i would be looking for a reason and possibly the only conclusion i would come to is the mmr vaccine because of all the scare mainly down to the press as many resaerches have been carried out and proved no link is there i wish a more detailed research would be carried out to stop this once and for all failing that seperate vaccines many parents are scared to let their children have the combined vaccine
Ritab | 08/06/2007 09:39:00
Our children did not have any side effects other than a bit of tetchiness on the day, but they all get that with any injections. I can't see the problem with a well-tried and tested vaccine. There are too many people around who will latch onto any snmall point to make a fuss - just because side effects can occur in a very small minority of cases doesn'tr mean that it sis oing to affect you. When you go in for an operation there is always a percentage chance that it will not work - do you cancel all opeartions because of that?
lucyloo | 08/06/2007 09:40:00
both my children had the combined MMR vaccine with no side effects apart from a raised temperature a few days after. i felt it was important that they were vaccinated and felt all the information i had been given was helpful and informative. i have worked in the childcare field for many years, and have never come across a child who then went on to develop autism or other problems. its my belief that when the MMR is blamed for causing such problems, it is just timing, and that these are picked up at that age, as the child begins to walk and talk and signs and symptoms become more noticeable.
caroline | 08/06/2007 10:00:00
I have four children, aged 11, 10, 7 and 4. All my girls have had their mmr injections and they have had no problems with them at all. i reccomend innoculating children against these illnesses to give them the best chance.
J | 08/06/2007 10:10:00
Both my kids had the one combined injection. There was a lot of talk at that time as to whether or not it was safe. We were never offered it as separate injections but felt it would have been a good idea. In the end we felt it was better to have the MMR injection than not and ended up putting our trust in the medical profession. Neither of my children suffered any ill effects but I know of other parents who feel theirs did and others who decided not to let their kids have it. I think we made the right decision for us.
Lavellski | 08/06/2007 10:12:00
My daughter had the MMR jab and so far there seems to be no ill effects. I did find that the literature given out by the NHS was quite biased which in turn makes you a bit suspicious. I feel that the uptake of the vaccine would be higher if people were given the choice between the triple or single vaccines. Ulitimately I think the NHS should allow parents the choice between the 2 vaccines Having to pay privately for the single inocculations isnt really acceptable.
lezanne26 | 08/06/2007 10:14:00
My youngest child (who is now 13) had the triple MMR when she was 13 months. I was not given a choice of having seperate vaccines. Two weeks after having the MMR my daughter began to suffer from febrile convulsions - the first one was very scary as she stopped breathing for quite a while and went blue. She had about 3 more 'fits' in the following 6 months ending up in hospital twice. Consequently I did not agree to her having the MMR booster jab when she was 5. No-one has confirmed that these convulsions were as a result of the jab (but they wouldn't would they?) but in my own mind I feel sure they were. She has fortunately suffered no adverse effects from this (as far as we can tell) and in spite of this I would still recommend the MMR jab - just keep a close eye on them for a few weeks afterwards! My grandchild has had the MMR (in 2005) with no ill effects.
donna | 08/06/2007 10:25:00
ive got 3 children they have all had there vacinations and they were fine having them and they had no side affects afterwards
Amanda | 08/06/2007 11:05:00
I have 3 children now 19,17 and 12, All have been vaccinated,and all have been fine. My youngest child is multiply handicapped and has epilepsy she sill had her vaccines and was fine.. I have worked on a paediatric ward and helped nurse children with these diseases, and it is heart breaking I would rather risk the vaccine than put my child through a lengthy and harrowing hospital stay.
Mikki Gould | 08/06/2007 13:44:00
I have two children who have both had the mmr jab, with my first I went to my doctor to air my concerns, he was very helpful and guided me to my choice, I had measles and mumps as a child and can remember how painful it was, so thought it was the best thing to do
vanessa elhlange | 08/06/2007 14:58:00
i waited 1 year to give my youngest the mmr jab .becouse i wanted to do more research in it.after that i gave it to him.
ruth | 08/06/2007 15:36:00
I have a 9yr old daughter and a 9 mnth old son. I refused the MMR when my daughter was at the age to receive it, due to the speculation surrounding it. Again, this time around i have refused it and the Health Visitor sat for 10 mins trying to persuade otherwise. My son also has Kidney Failture, so this is more than enough for us to worry about. Around the time speculation was at its peak, my sister was eligible for it and my mum refused it also. She is 18 now and is fine, as with my 9yr old too. I think its up to the individual to decide, not pressure from the professionals. As easily as getting measles or mumps goes, you are more likely to be knocked down by a bus, etc... Its just the chance in life you take!
Judith | 08/06/2007 19:10:00
All 3 of my children have had the MMR vaccine with no ill effect. Although I was uncomfortable about them having the combined vaccination I felt the benefits far outweighed the potential effects of contracting measles, mumps or rubella. All my children were fine following the vaccination. I would have liked the option to have had the individual vaccines, and would have been prepared to pay for it if given by my doctor.
lorna | 08/06/2007 21:31:00
my son had the mmr 3 years ago, and within 2 hours og getting he started head banging lost all speech he had and became very withdrawn, it tain me a year to get him seen by a hospital and he now has ASD, the down side of things is i have also got another son who has just turned 2 and i am refusing the MMR for him and cant afford the singel vacs at £600 so it a bit of a double edge , what to do for the best. so dont be pressued into any thing u do what u think is right for your child my experance is just on in 1000's yet there ae1000's of kiddies who are just fine its a chance u have to take, now i am just thinking my grand parents didnt have these jabs one is still living a good healthy life at 91 and the other was 108 when she died just a poss for thought :-)
Diane | 08/06/2007 23:20:00
My children alll had the MMR jab with no ill effects. Their ages are now 12, 19 and 22. I don't remember what info I was given with the oldest two, but vaguely remember having a leaflet about it for my youngest. I have no idea where I got it from though! With each of them I weighed the pro's & cons and made my own decision after listening to other people's different views. It doesn't stop them getting them as my eldest has had mumps twice. (She looked like a little hamster the 1st time, poor thing!)
Fay | 09/06/2007 15:02:00
My 10 year old daughter had the combined jab, and had no problems at all after it. I wouldn't hesitate in giving it to any other children i may have in the future.
Kate & Richard | 09/06/2007 17:00:00
My 3 children have all had the MMR with no side effects. There was a lot of data around at the time from the health visitors plus there was a local specialist clinic that you could attend to discuss any concerns with a doctor. We looked on the internet at data and although there was information on some cases of autism, there was no data saying what percentage this was of the overall population vaccinated. We also got opinions from our families - their children all had the MMR with no problems. The thing that worried me was when they were too young to have the MMR which left them vulnerable because so many other people did not have their children vaccinated which could have led to measles resurfacing in the area and infecting my kids.
Helen J Smith | 09/06/2007 21:49:00
my 4 children (now aged 9 7 6 and 3) have all had all jabs when required and no problem with MMR. My daughter had an allergic reaction to the whooping cough vaccine previously so we did consider asking for single jabs instead of giving her MMR but in the end she had no reaction at all.
gower | 09/06/2007 22:26:00
Both my daughters were given separate jabs( they are now in their late twenties) on the recommendation of our family doctor. My elder daughter still contracted both measles and mumps.
megachef | 10/06/2007 08:06:00
My son had measles before he was one. It was the most terrifying time of my life as we did not know if he would recover completely. He may easily have died or been brain damaged as he had a temperature of 40c for a week. This shows that you can catch measles these days and it is still a very dangerous disease He has also been diagnosed with autism, which he showed signs of before he caught measles or had the MMR jab. So far as I know there is no link between MMR and autism but I do know that it is better to get your children immunised, whether it is all in one, or separate vaccinnations
fergals4 | 10/06/2007 11:29:00
my 6 year old twins had the combined jab although at the time it was a terrifying decision to make we made the right one, with the help of our gp and health visitor, who rightly pointed out that the diseases that it protects against can be deadly. At the time it was an awful decision to make but we did the only thing you can as a parent and armed ourselves with every available information(good and bad)and went from there.
Rowena | 10/06/2007 16:41:00
I have 3 children and they have all had the mmr which was combined. Thankfully my children haven't become ill because of it and wouldn't think about not having it done.
Anne Nicol | 11/06/2007 07:15:00
i admit I was worried about giving my son the combined MMR jab, but if you beleive in everything you hear, you would not give them anything, my eldest son is 10 so it was hot news when he got his jab. He was fine with it. I had no second thoughts when it came to my second son who is now 5, they were both fine. It is better to have them immunised against anything that could harm them. Better safe than sorry.
Paula Watson | 11/06/2007 09:51:00
i have two children, a daughter aged 8 years and a son aged 2. My children have both had the vaccination. My daughter is fine and had no side affects. My son appeared to be ok at the time, but now I'm getting concerned about him. He keeps banging his head on everything, mainly the floor and keeps putting his hands in his mouth when he has this temper tantrem. I'm hoping it's just the terrible two's but am worried as I'm finding it difficult to control him. I am this week going to speak to my health visitor about my concerns.
Elaine | 11/06/2007 11:59:00
All my three children had the injection, they were poorly for one day then fine.
Sarah | 11/06/2007 14:23:00
My 3 have all had the MMR with no long term ill effect, just a few days at the time feeling a bit off colour
Danielle Loftus | 11/06/2007 17:23:00
I have a 2yr old son would has had the mmr and has been prefectly fine and I have also had the mmr and am fine. I see prevention is better than cure, therefore it is better to give the vaccination to kids than deal with the consequences, but if there is a family history of the kids reacting badly then it should only be given if there is no risk of anything happening
Sarah Wales | 11/06/2007 19:54:00
My son had the MMR and was abslutely fine, no side effects what s ever. I recently had 2 doses of the vaccine myself and was fine too. Just a little itchiness around the site. My experience was fine and to my knowledge it is a coincidence that autistic children start to show signs round about the same time they have the MMR. I wasnt concerned about giving my son the jag.
Julia SOUTH WALES | 11/06/2007 21:06:00
My child is now 13yrs old 14 in oct she had them M.M.R with no long term side effect just a rash temp for a few days after i would do it all again this thing about conected to AUTISIM ...I think is just a excuse unless it is clinicaly proven no one knows people I know who have Blamed the M.M.R on the AUTISIM already had Defects of AUTISIM in the Family SO HOW THEY CAN BLAME IT ON THAT I HAVE NO IDEA
acea | 11/06/2007 21:10:00
My duaghter had it at 24 months no problems at all. The information from the GP and Helath visitor was very strong and used research and a little political arguments about the issue of not having the MMR. My son nearly 3 has not had it yet as I am more hesitant with him he will have it when hw is three. From my studying the topic boys it seems suffer more from the MMR. The preessure for the Health profesionals has been less strong as if the controversay has died down. It seem bizare that there was hugue pressure to give the vacine three years ago but now it has subsded to me it show the fad iness of the health care system flavour of the month.
Nadja | 11/06/2007 22:03:00
My son had the MMR with no side effects. The benefits far out weigh the risks.
Llinos Phillips | 11/06/2007 22:19:00
All my 4 children had the MMR
Llinos Phillips | 11/06/2007 22:34:00
All my 4 children had the MMR vaccination ( they are 24 ,21, 11 & 9 ) & thankfully they are fine . the only reaction they had was a low grade pyrexia for 24 hours ( but I have always given the Calpol straight away after all their jabs ). My eldest son did actually have Mumps when he was about 4 but it was only a mild dose. My 2 Grandchildren have also had their MMR & so far they are ok, they are 6 & 4
Nicola | 12/06/2007 00:41:00
I let my son (now 3) have the MMR injections. He reacted badly to all 3 with a high fever for a day or so but after that he was absolutely fine and is showing no long term effects at present. Will give to any future children I may have. Would rather have a couple of ill days then risk getting the illnesses.
julie.d | 12/06/2007 10:13:00
never gave my daughter MMR not totally reasured that it completly safe think we should have a choise of seperate injections didnt give her the whooping cough one either . I think government put all these multi injections together to save money not giving us the perants the choise we should have
lynn | 12/06/2007 10:18:00
I have five children, each of whom have had all the available vaccinations, MMR included. As with every injection my surgery were very informative of any possible risks associated with the injection. As a responsible parent I weighed up the pro's and con's of my children being vaccinated. My decision was that the risks associated with contracting the condition were far greater than the risks associated with the having my children vaccinated. I think often the media blow issues like the out of proportion. There was also a doctor who said the risks of the vaccination were that of a child being autistic. Well I have a child with an autistic spectrum disorder, and may I say I would much rather have a child with a condition such as that, than to have the guilt of losing a child through a condition that could have been prevented. I also believe this doctor has now retracted much of what he said, and thanks to his scaremongering many children have been left unvaccinated.
Kerry | 12/06/2007 10:42:00
My two boys now 6 and 2 have had all their shots including the mmr with no side effects. I had plenty of advise and reading material regarding the jabs, and was put as ease by my practioneer that the only side effect would be that my boys might be feeling under the weather for a day or two, and that after the jab, i should stay in the waiting room for 10 mins just incase there was an adverse reaction (which i was told is very rare) My boys had no reactions and are fighting fit, and im not worried about future jabs, i trust the goverment and health officials with my sons health.
nicky | 12/06/2007 11:02:00
My two sons had MMR jabs.Although I was terrified at the thought of any complications.Also feel that age injections are given is at quite a vulnerable time for the mother to have to take these kind of descisions.
Nikki 12/6/07 | 12/06/2007 11:17:00
To begin with I was getting the single jabs but I also decided to read everything that had ever been published in medical journals. I read Wakefields original paper and the media had taken it all out of context. I was convinced by what i read that the MMR was safe. I think if I had a child who had been really sick from birth I might have got the singles as it would be less for a poor immune system to deal with. Thankfully both my kids have been healthy and suffered no adverse reactions.
Purplesusi | 12/06/2007 13:08:00
All 3 of my children have had the vaccine. None of them had any side affects. I don't like them having to have needles put in them ,but rather this than what could happen.
Claire | 12/06/2007 13:27:00
My son had the MMR jab and I am so glad he did as he got measles when he was 6 and I dread to think how ill he could have been had he not had it.
anders | 12/06/2007 17:09:00
Both my son (13) and stepdaughter (11) had the mmr jab when babies - neither had any reactions to it and to be honest i cant remember anyone who didnt have the jab - certainly none of the mums around that time talked of it. I would still have my children vaccinated, if i had to make the decision now, theres a risk with a lot of things in life now, not just medicines and i would hope that i was doing the right thing for them.
Carys | 12/06/2007 17:52:00
My son (now nearly 5) had the MMR jab. There were no side effects and I am confident I did the best for my child.
Sarah | 12/06/2007 17:59:00
all three of my children have had the MMR. No problems. My 5yr old has a bleeding disorder so he had to have his subcutainously. He did have a large welt and a hot spot but he has always had that with any immunisations.
lisa | 12/06/2007 19:02:00
both my children have had the 3 in 1 jab with no side effects. i personally have had no problem with any of the immunisations my children have had and have always taken them for them on time. each person is unique so reactions will differ from mild to quite nasty. i have always been of the opinion that all things happen for a reason good or bad. but if they can be prevented the you must do so. i would never forgive myself if one of my children had an illness which could have been prevented by a jab
Andy | 12/06/2007 21:06:00
All 4 of my children have had the MMR jab their ages range from 18down to 4 months >all are in great shape!!
Margaret | 13/06/2007 09:36:00
I have 9 children the mmr jab was available to my youngest 3 who all got it with no side effects I was given plenty of imformation and the health visitor disscussed the pros and cons with me but it was my decision and the advantages far outway the disadvantages the illnessess themselves probably carry more risk than the injection
Bond | 13/06/2007 11:56:00
Both my children, now 2 & a half & 5 had the MMR jab. They have had no problems at all.
Gillian Connellan | 13/06/2007 12:26:00
All my children had the mmr vaccine, and all were absolutely fine afterwards. However, because of the media mentioning the problems outlined with the triple jab, it did cause me a little concern, but i decided to take the chance with 2 of my children as when the first had her jab, none of the problems were highlighted back then.
JBG0801 | 13/06/2007 19:59:00
I was never given any advice or information from any health advisors - i did all my own research - which was plentiful. It sounded like a lot of scare mongering and from the information i gathered, i believe that if a child is autistic then there are very often some small indications earlier on. The MMR may exacerbate the speed at which the condition takes hold but i truly believe from all of my research, there seems to have been a "niggle" in parents minds before the MMR. In fact, some of the parents even admitted this within the research that I did and it was only due to the media coverage that they believed the MMR was to blame - now looking back, they are more unsure. I feel the minor risk involved was far outweighed by having the MMR and knowing that my very precious child was protected from these horrible illnesses.
Debbie Lamb | 13/06/2007 20:23:00
My son had the MMR jab on the same day as the new pneunoccocal jab for meningitis in Sept of last year. He went off his food, was very clingy, did not sleep well, he wasirritable and difficult to settle for about 4 weeks afterwards. I am not sure if these symptoms were due to the MMR or the other jab, but I would not recommend to other parents to have them at the same time.
Lindsay | 13/06/2007 20:50:00
I have followed the media coverage on MMR for over 10 years now. I have a 13 year old and a 9 year old. My eldest had her first MMR with no ill effects aftwards. By the time it came for my youngest to have his first MMR, I had come to the conclusion that giving the combined injection at such a young age seemed to be too much for the immune system of a small percentage of children. As my son was having regular febrile seizures (since grown out of) at the time, I chose for him to have the separate measles, mumps and rubella injections spaced over several months. He had these with no ill effects. The extra cost was well worth the peace of mind.
Lindsay | 13/06/2007 20:51:00
I have followed the media coverage on MMR for over 10 years now. I have a 13 year old and a 9 year old. My eldest had her first MMR with no ill effects aftwards. By the time it came for my youngest to have his first MMR, I had come to the conclusion that giving the combined injection at such a young age seemed to be too much for the immune system of a small percentage of children. As my son was having regular febrile seizures (since grown out of) at the time, I chose for him to have the separate measles, mumps and rubella injections spaced over several months. He had these with no ill effects. The extra cost was well worth the peace of mind.
Bewdley Babe | 13/06/2007 23:31:00
My 15 year old daughter had the MMR when she was just a year old. At the time we felt we were doing the best thing for her but how wrong we were. It started with her having a runny nose, like a cold. Then she had a high temperature which was not brought under control by the usual adminstration of liquid paracetemol and sponging her down with cool water. She then started to foam at the mouth and fit. We dialled 999 and an ambulance was sent to collect her and she was admitted to hospital. It took 48 hours to get her temperture down and the fits to stop. Then she came out in a rash which was thought to be measles, her glands were also swollen. Like she had the mumps. She was in hospital for 5 days. I spoke to doctors at the hospital but not one doctor, consultant or nurse could give me any reason for what had happened to my daughter. If I ever mentioned the MMR to who ever I was talking to, they became very distant and refused to continue the conversation. One doctor off the record did say it was possible that she was allergic to live vaccines but was unwilling to put anything in writing. She left hospital and seemed to be her normal self again, she was difficult to potty train and had very poor bladder control for along time. Regular bed wetting until she was at least 10. She still has a weak bladder now at 15. We were offered the MMR booster just before she started school, which we refused. We met a lot of opposition from health visitors and doctors but as none of them could guarantee that my daughter would not have the same problem again. We stood firm and she did not have the MMR. Even before my son was born in 2004, we had decided that he was not having the MMR. We looked on the internet and found a clinic near us that would give him the 3 single injections. It cost us £330 but after what we went through with my daughter, it was money well spent for peace of mind. He will also be having the 3 single injections as a booster before he starts school. We feel that everybody should have a choice when it comes to the MMR.
BIRON Jeckie | 14/06/2007 10:06:00
Both of my children now aged 9 and 6 had the combined vaccine with no problems whatsoever.
tracey | 14/06/2007 10:41:00
My son, now 12 had mmr jab at the normal age and was so poorly after it he was took into hospital and was in for 2 weeks. He had a reaction to the jab so now has to have test before he has any jab to make sure he will be ok. Doc's said that he has a very high immune system......
DK1bunny | 14/06/2007 18:45:00
I work in a day service for adults with autism and am doing my MEd in Autism, I couldn't bring myself to go with the risk of the combined vaccine and so we are part way through the single jabs for our 16 month old son at the moment, measles made him poorly for several days but we have been told that the rubella and mumps should go through much easier, next ones next week. It might not make a difference in the long run, but working with the adults who have received the vaccine damages payment makes it too close to home to risk it.
teresa marie rowley | 15/06/2007 12:28:00
my three children have had the the vaccine 2 are grow up in there 20ts and 1 is 12 all ave had it and are well my daughter asked me about them and i told her it was imperative that my grandaughter has it and she agreed with me after we talked about it
Debbie | 07/08/2007 13:28:00
My 4 year old son had the vaccine and he is absolutly fine, Ive just had another little boy and he will be having the vaccine.
Mark Booth | 07/08/2007 13:56:00
I have 2 children now aged 3 and 8 both have had the MMR vaccine with no issues and no side effects.
I tend to refuse to read tabloid newspapers as I think the risk of reading these does not outweigh the benefit, unlike the vaccine! For me it is a non-issue.
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