Make MMR Compulsory

[Julnar]

There are calls to make the MMR jab compulsory before children can attend state schools. Apparently, this is the case in the USA, Spain and most states in Australia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8078500.stm
Should we follow their lead in order to prevent mass outbreaks of measles etc, which can have far more devastating effects on our children than many people seem to realise?

[R1Geezer]

No bad move, parents will conclude that the governement have lost the argument and that they must now force the issue.

Parents have up to now been totally illogical about this but it''s their choice. Whether there is a slight risk or not is largley irrelevant and not the argument. Is it safer to have the vaccine or out of some misguided hysteria buy gawd knows what off some Arthur Daley type character to have individual vaccines, is a no brainer.

The public as usual demonstrate they are asthis as pig sh1te over this but I don't think it's the job of government to force the issue.

[Gromit]

No one should be forced to have medication against their wishes, whether it be MMR of fluoride in water.

People should however be better informed by the Government instead of making their decisions based on dodgy tabloid newspaper reports.

[LazyGun]

I am not sure what else the government can do to inform the public. There are a wealth of reports and commentary emanating from the Govt recommending the use of MMR, but still people would rather believe the alarmists it seems.

I appreciate what people are saying about allowing people freedom of choice etc ,but these are communicable diseases, reliant upon herd immunity, so not immunizing your child is not only endangering your own child, its endangering everyone elses as well. The ultimate in selfish behaviour.

On balance, for this particular issue, I think mandatory immunizations would be the right thing to do.

[paraffin]

This should have been posted in the "Family" section under "Parenting".

[TopKat]

Lots of countries (including Jamaica where I grew up) insist that children have a valid immunisation certificate when they register for school and I personally think it would be perfectly valid to introduce this policy to the UK. The question is one of public health - if there isn't a high enough uptake of immunisation then everyone is put at risk, especially children or adults with compromised immune systems. It's one of the few areas where I think government intervention is justified, especially given the current mistaken public perception that MMR is dangerous which has led to unnecessary illness and death from preventable disease.

[Julnar]

Sorry paraffin, but I thought it was newsworthy and it makes a change from right wing rants, MP's expenses and Gordon Brown's sell buy date.

[LazyGun]

Not sure what paraffin is on about.. this is an eminently News worthy topic.

[Julnar]

I think you make a very valid point, TopKat and I think I'm swayed by such arguments in this particular case.

[craft1948]

So what happens if you refuse to have your child immunized....is it done against your wishes or is your child excluded from school?

[paraffin]

Fair point, Julnar.

[Julnar]

craft1948, if I'm not mistaken a child is excluded from a state school if a parent chooses not to have the MMR jab for their children. I think a parent is entitled to seek a place in a private school however, though I'm not certain of that.

[LazyGun]

I doubt that the immunization would be carried out against the expressed wishes of the parent/guardian - that would constitute assault. Exclusion would be the most likely action although that also raises a whole can of worms in its own right.

[craft1948]

That's what I mean lazy.....I can't see the child being immunized against the parents' wishes but what happens if they then don't attend school. If they are taken to court over the child's lack of education what happens then?

[LazyGun]

Its a very valid point craft, a strong reason not to introduce compulsory vaccinations, and one i personally dont have an answer for :)
Obviously, before compulsory vaccinations were to be introduced, some system would need to be in place to take account of the educational needs of those children whose parents/guardian refused the vaccination.
It would be useful to know what measures are used in the US, Australia, Spain etc in these curcumstances.
It all comes back, as it often does, to the question of whether the health needs of the many outweigh the freedoms of the (assumed) few for this one particular issue.
Uptake rates as low as 16-25% in some areas of the country, and a stalled national rate of only 85% ( when for herd immunity we need 95%) require dramatic action IMO.

[Beatrice35]

Julnar- it is newsworthy indeed :-) Is in correct section as if just in the Family Section then those without families may not chose to post. Have no children yet have young neices and nephews + interested in this topic for this reason + delighted you posted it here under News. Echo the words of Gromit, TopKat, LazyGun + Craft1948 :-) Would just like to add that the Scandinavians are far more sensible a nation than the UK as it is not compulosry there for immunisation yet their uptake of the vaccine is very high. Thanks Julnar for an interesting post. Warm wishes, Bea :-)

[Beatrice35]

Sorry, am dyslexic. Meant to have typed cumpulsory ;-)
Good day to you all, Bea :-)

[Julnar]

This article gives information on how the USA copes with its compulsory system of uptake for school entrance and the permissable grounds for exemption.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/feb/1 0/measles-mmr-vaccine

[rogerr]

When I had my first son I was unsure about vaccinations (my cousin's child was one of the one in a thousand that reacted badly to it) until I met a nurse who said--you should see the kids that I see with serious illnesses from not being vaccinated. I made my mind up staight away.
Making them compulsory though leaves the govt. wide open to being sued if even only one child is harmed by it.

[sqad617]

The majority of parents today have never seen measles in full flow. In the !940's and 50's during an outbreak a GP would probably see a dozen cases a day and completely unable to revisit the child because of the volume of cases to be attended to. Chidren were febile, sweating, sore eyes, temperature rising by the hour and quickly becoming dehydrated. Middle ear disease was common as was, too a less extent, encephalitis. Antibiotics were given, not for the viral response, but to attempt to curtail the complications.

I support Lazygun and others here who are protagonists of compulsary immunization.