MMR vaccine question

[Shell22]

So today I took my 1 year old to his yearly exam. The nurse handed me the papers on the vaccines he would be getting and what not. I began reading the effects and freaking out. He ended up not getting them because he has a cold and my Dr. wants him to come back after the cold has cleared.
But all day I've been freaking about about this MMR vaccine....the side effects are seizures, bleeding disorder, deafness, coma, permanent brain damage, rash...Also this is the vaccine that was accused of causing autisum back in 1998. I know this is a routine thing that I'm sure everyone gets. Am I freaking out for nothing?? I don't know what I would do if anything like this happened to my baby. Could you give me some input on how you feel so maybe I can sleep tonight lol.

[Newmom!]

All medications have side effects. Even "safe" Ibuprofen can cause severe bleeding - if all the surrounding factors are "just right". The likelihood of your child having a reaction to his immunizations is minimal. It is important to be informed, just in case there is a reaction, you know what to do, and can respond to it quickly, reducing the likelihood of the reaction causing severe injury.

I have worked with over 200 preschoolers with special needs over the last 6 years. Children with special needs seem to be more prone to reactions to medications. I met no one who had a reaction to the MMR - and one child who had a seizure, but they are not even sure if it really was related to the Pertussis vaccine he was given (which your child probably has already had).

And the autism thing, that is complete bogus. The "Scientist" who made the claim, retracted it and said he altered the results of the study to say that, in order to make fame for himself is seems. And now it has been recently found out that he was involved with a company that was developing a competing brand of vaccination. So the theory that has since developed is that if he could say the vaccination in his study caused autism, but the new company's vaccination did not, then sales of the new company would increase. So, it appears to be a marketing gimick that now has worried countless parents and has made vaccinations, that are safe for the overall population, questioned.

Also, if you look at the facts sheets of all the other immunizations your baby has already had, you'll see very similar potential side effects. If he hasn't had reactions to the other vaccinations, he is unlikely to have it to the MMR. Also, odds of as seizure is 1 in 3,000, that translates to 0.0003% chance of if happening. Rash and fever are more common, but that is a natural immunoresponse of some people when they are developing antibodies to fight an illness. The MMR is not going to give your baby the illness, but it will cause the body to create antibodies - which may cause the rash or fever.

If you look at the illnesses themselves, you will find the symptoms and complications just as scary, if not more so. With so many people choosing to not vaccinate, odds keep increasing that non-vaccinated children will contract these illnesses. For example, complications with mumps can cause inflammation of the brain or deafness. (from the CDC website). The odd of complications are probably low, but Mumps is one of the "more mild" illnesses and still can have sever consequences.

If you want a lot of facts about immunizations and the diseases that are not clouded with a bunch of hype, go to the Center for Disease Control website. This will hopefully help you make an informed decision about what is best for your child. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/

In my opinion, I'd get all the vaccinations. Odds of complications in the average healthy child is very low and the benefits are vast.

[IrishMom27]

my daughter got the MMR vaccine and is completely healthy - plus the study that correlated MMR vaccine to autism was not true. there are more studies out there that suggest the opposite is more likely.

just read newmom's post -and she is right -

if you are concerned about how many vaccines your child is going to get at an appointment, you can do what i did - delayed vaccines. i only allowed the nurse/doctor to give one shot per leg. even if that meant that i needed to go back in 3 -4 weeks to complete all the vaccines she needed for that age.