Boy's measles death sparks alert - beeb

[Rob W 0]

Boy's measles death sparks alert

 

A 13-year-old boy has become the first person in the UK in more than a decade to die from measles.

 

The victim was from a travelling family living in the north-west of England, the Health Protection Agency said. A string of outbreaks mainly in England and Wales's travelling communities have led to 100 cases so far in 2006 compared to 76 in the whole of 2005.

 

The boy, who was suffering from an underlying lung condition, had not had the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

 

Take-up rates

 

Health officials say 95% of children should receive MMR so that vaccination programmes are effective, but take-up rates in the UK stand at 82%.

 

Many parents were put off from vaccinating their children with MMR after research linked the vaccine with autism. Concern over the jab was sparked by a paper published in The Lancet in 1998 by Dr Andrew Wakefield. But a more recent study in the same journal concluded there was no evidence of a link between the jab and autism.

 

However, fears remain among parents despite successive health promotion campaigns. And around 2,000 families have taken legal action, claiming their children have been damaged by the MMR jab, with many claiming it has triggered forms of autism.

 

Hospitalised

 

Immunisation rates fell as low as 80% in the wake of the scare.

 

But the Department of Health argues the three-in-one jab is the best way of safe-guarding children because it offers the greatest protection per jab and many parents forget to bring their children for follow-up doses.

 

The Health Protection Agency (HPA), which monitors disease rates, said this year's 100 measles cases occurred in all regions apart from the North East with victims aged between one and 35.

[Renton 20971]

Source Rob? Couldn't find it on the beeb.

 

Mind, don't get me started on the MMR vacination. Wakefield should be hung up by his bollocks along with the journalists that spread his disinformation.

 

Edit: sorry, found it:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4871728.stm

Edited April 3, 2006 by Renton

[Steve 0]

I had my MMR shot about a week ago and nothinbvjfkljdfg badokj kl happennldsjfkljdsds to me.

 

[Rob W 0]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4871728.stm

[Gemmill 43949]

I've had measles so I'm alright Jack. Come back to me when there's a mumps outbreak.

[Mags 1]

Source Rob? Couldn't find it on the beeb.

 

Mind, don't get me started on the MMR vacination. Wakefield should be hung up by his bollocks along with the journalists that spread his disinformation. 

 

Edit: sorry, found it:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4871728.stm

113913[/snapback]

 

Whether it's factual or not the story keeps surfacing and keeps going round and round with new studies etc etc. As a parent with a child who did get his MMR 13 years ago when they used the alleged mercury based preservative it's kind of hard for me to sit back and say it's disinformation when my son has an autism like syndrome. PDD-NOS- lovely frustrating condition that it is. Had I known then what I know now regarding that I might have just turned down the MMR jab. It's a great thing wondering if you were directly at fault for your child's condition.

[Rob W 0]

All jabs have a risk - but compared to the chances of getting something awfull ............................

[Renton 20971]

Source Rob? Couldn't find it on the beeb.

 

Mind, don't get me started on the MMR vacination. Wakefield should be hung up by his bollocks along with the journalists that spread his disinformation. 

 

Edit: sorry, found it:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4871728.stm

113913[/snapback]

 

Whether it's factual or not the story keeps surfacing and keeps going round and round with new studies etc etc. As a parent with a child who did get his MMR 13 years ago when they used the alleged mercury based preservative it's kind of hard for me to sit back and say it's disinformation when my son has an autism like syndrome. PDD-NOS- lovely frustrating condition that it is. Had I known then what I know now regarding that I might have just turned down the MMR jab. It's a great thing wondering if you were directly at fault for your child's condition.

113995[/snapback]

 

Wakefield's research has been completely discredited and he has been exposed as a charlatan. Even his co-authors have dis-associated themselves from it. He was set to financially profit from his research by owning the patent on a single measle vaccine. There have now been literally dozens of observational studies performed which have failed to demonstate any link whatsoever with MMR and autism or bowel complaints (the mercury compounds that were previously used are a different matter, but this wasn't the purpose of Wakefield's research). The actions of Wakefield have very probably resulted in children dying or being seriously handicapped, as is seen here.

 

I'm very sorry to hear about your son, but you raise another interesting point about, which for me illustrates another more subtle way Wakefield's research has been damaging. Parents of children affected with these conditions often now think that there is something different they could have done, that they are somehow responsible. This is so wrong imo, sometimes illnesses just happen and there is nothing to do to stop them, and perhaps we just have to accept it. What could you have done differently? How will the parents of this child who has died feel now after refusing the MMR jab?

 

Anyway, I hope I haven't offended you in any way as I quite often seem to on this forum about controversial points. You probably have done more research than me on the subject if you're affected by it too, so I'll not say any more on the subject, but good luck.