It would appear that this post has angered the anti vax community. From the messages I received last night there are a few things I want to make clear. Any messages I receive personally attacking me or my children will not be published.
- “You look very young on that photo on your blog. Don’t you think you may want to grow up a bit” Yes I might look young, but I’m actually 31. I don’t need to grow up a bit before commenting on vaccinations, maybe you do?
- “Just the usual crap from an uneducated Mummy blogger” I am educated. I have a Bachelor of Science degree and a Postgraduate Degree meaning I am more than capable of reading and interpreting scientific studies and published articles.
- ” It has shown that the masses always like participating in knee-jerk reactions.”
The Meningitis B petition is not a knee jerk reaction of the general public. There is a vaccination available that could help to protect our children from a horrific disease. The reason people are rushing out to get it done privately I can only imagine, is because if their child was unfortunate enough to catch Meningitis B in the meantime and yes I know that chance is very low, then they would be thinking if only we had got them the vaccine.
I vaccinate my children for many different reasons, the main one being if they were to catch one of the horrific diseases they protect against because I hadn’t vaccinated them, I would never be able to forgive myself. We are incredibly lucky to live in a time where we don’t have to see or live with the disastrous effects these diseases have. You only have to watch a program like Call the Midwife to see how dangerous diseases like Measles and Polio can be. I use Call the Midwife as an example purely because the TV is as close as most of us will luckily get to seeing the diseases.
It’s my choice to vaccinate my children and fortunately the majority of people agree with me as it creates Herd immunity which is what protects those who haven’t been vaccinated. Herd immunity is incredibly important, for babies who haven’t yet been immunised and for those that can’t be immunised because of a compromised immune system. My second child had to rely on herd immunity whilst having tests on his immune system. He wasn’t able to have his MMR due to the live component in it and I’m grateful for all the people around him who were vaccinated at that time as it made him safer until he could have them. My youngest reacted with a high fever and blisters on her legs around the immunisation site to some of her first vaccinations. When having her MMR we talked the risks through with the Doctor and her Paedetrician and decided the risks were greater her not having it. We stayed in the Doctors surgery for longer to make sure she had no adverse reactions. Yes she had a temperature and sore legs after and has since had a very, very mild version of a couple of the diseases but I would prefer this to the full blown version of the diseases any day. I read the inserts given to me before a vaccination just as I do before taking any medicine. There are possible side affects to everything we take and do. Weighing up the risks I decided that it was safer for my children to be protected against the diseases than not. If you have decided that the risks are too high for your child that is your choice. Some may say you are lucky that we live in a society where you have that choice because the majority of people do vaccinate and so the chances of your child getting the diseases are low. The reason pregnant women are now offered the whopping cough vaccine (which I had) is to help protect their newborn babies from the rising risk of catching the disease before they are old enough to be immunised themselves. The reason for this rise and risk is the fall in the amount of people getting their children vaccinated.
Vaccinations are to protect you and your children they are not done for any other reason and we are incredibly lucky that we have them.
The recent petition to make the Meningitis B vaccine available to all children has shown how important they really are. Vaccinations save lives! I’ve signed the petition as for us with 4 children getting them vaccinated privately is just not an option. If it was I would do it in a heartbeat! Yesterday some private companies are now charging as much as £750 for one vaccine. I get the whole supply and demand, but this is wrong, companies praying on parents worries. I don’t believe that the NHS shouldn’t fund them as I’m pretty sure it costs more money to treat and hopefully cure than it does to prevent in the first place. The Meningitis B petition is now the most signed in Parliamentary history, it’s just such a shame that the death of a child that could have been prevented is the reason for its popularity. If you haven’t already signed the petition you can do so here.
If you want to do some more reading here are some reputable links
Vaccine Myths