Mums, what are your views on MMR jab?

Question

my daughter is due hers next month, i think its safe, but there has been so much hype in recent years, im just a little unsure, any one know if they do any alternatives, or am i worring over nothing , thankyou x

Answer 1

I'm not a mum, but a pop.  As a virologist and immunologist, I can say that there is no accepted evidence linking the MMR with any serious disease or condition, such as autism.  If there were such a link, the vaccine would pulled from the shelf.

It is extremely important to vaccinate kids.  It is easy to forget how miserable it is to have measles, mumps or rubella, and how much time the parents have to devote to their sick kids.  We are beginning to see outbreaks of measles in both the US and England because more and more parents are skipping these vaccinations.

Measles is partiulcarly serious because the virus can persist for years in the body and re-emerge to cause disease of the central nervous system (SSPE).

Answer 2

wonkydonky-  I have gotten both my daughter and son immunized with the MMR combined vaccine, and I am glad I did.  The MMR vaccine has some side effects. For example, about 1 in 6 children develop a fever 7 to 12 days after immunization. Some parents think that MMR is unsafe because it has some adverse effects, but this is not the case. These side effects, most of which are benign, are acknowledged by members of the medical profession. The benefits of MMR far outweigh the risks of these recognized side effects. The vaccine has an excellent safety record. Hundreds of millions of children have safely received the vaccine worldwide.

It is important that children receive MMR. Without a high uptake of the measles component of the vaccination, the possibility of outbreaks of measles increases. Because 1 in 1,000 cases of measles is associated with encephalitis, the risk of this potentially deadly infection in children is also increased.

The dangers of not giving the vaccine are enormously greater than a quick jab of the vaccine in the arm.