allergies and the mmr injection

[monaliza]

hi my son is 15 months old he is allergic to milk eggs that i know of.but the thing Im finding hard is that the doctors still say he should have his mmr injection , but it has eggs in it.Im so scarred about having it done at such a early age.after all they say they cant do any allergy testing till he is 2 but they are all for sticking in chemicals that they dont know what will happen.
Ive been looking into having his jabs done separate but dont seem to be able to find anywhere near suffolk or essex that will do them.the nearest being london.
does anyone have any advise what to do?
after all if he was allergic to nuts they wouldnt inject him with them? would they!
anyone had the same problem? I need help and advice what to do.
I would feel better if they did the jab in hospital after all then if there is a reaction then he would get the help he needs!
lisa

[Copper]

I had a similar problem recently as I was offered a flu jab. I know this is grown on an egg based medium.

I have always said that I am allergic to eggs but in fact I am just intolerant. I had the flu jab anyway and had to stay in the surgery to be monitored for about 15 mins. I was fine.

I guess the question here is do you know your son is allergic to eggs rather than intolerant? What happens if he has eggs? Have you made a big enough fuss about this? I know you shouldn't have to but I am afraid that is what you have to do it seems to me.

[matt]

a couple of years ago i was very worried about the mmr but on the balance of information i would say that it's safe. only you can really make that decision but there is a lot more info available now.

re the potential allergic reation. if you stay in the gps surgery for 15 mins then any reaction will have occurred. if it happens there then it can be dealt with safely and quickly.
the long term risks of measels mumps or rubella are real and very life threatening.
i know what i'd do but i can't make that decision for you, that has to be down to you i'm afraid.:mellow:

[ellsie]

One of the important things to remember is that you are the mother and you know your child best. The nhs will try to talk you into it because they want herd immunity with most of the kids immunised. If your son does have an allergy or is intollerent to eggs then have him tested first and then have the MMR later if you wish. Do the single injections have egg? I don't know. My youngest daughter had single injections on the first round,but they have been unable to get the mumps vaccine for over a year for her so I had the MMR done on the second round when she was 4. I felt fine with that as she was much older by then. I feel that it is a big injection for a small body to cope with especially with allergies in our family and that is why I took this route.
I don't know who would do it in your area,but if I find anything I will pass it on.:)
My elder daughters were milk allergy tested at 18 months and there is also a blood test they can do on the nhs to test for egg allergy,but he may be too young for that.
Don't go along with anything you are not happy with . It is important to be immunised but it is also important for you to make the decision and not them.:)

[ellsie]

Found it. www.jabs.org.uk

[monaliza]

I had a similar problem recently as I was offered a flu jab. I know this is grown on an egg based medium.

I have always said that I am allergic to eggs but in fact I am just intolerant. I had the flu jab anyway and had to stay in the surgery to be monitored for about 15 mins. I was fine.

I guess the question here is do you know your son is allergic to eggs rather than intolerant? What happens if he has eggs? Have you made a big enough fuss about this? I know you shouldn't have to but I am afraid that is what you have to do it seems to me.
Well if my son had eggs it sets him back for days he is very sick and his throught must swell as he coughs all the time making it hard to breath.
Im just looking into having his injections done seprate as i dont think I should be injecting him with it as early as 15months .after all if he was allergis to nuts they wouldnt inject him with it ?
im worried about it as i have been reading bad stoiries where children with allergies have died from the mmr,
lisa

[ellsie]

Trust your instincts Lisa,you know your own child.

[Copper]

If you think that your son's throat swells after eating an egg this could be a sign of an allergy rather than intolerance. I am intolerant so just get the bad stomach for a few hours until it has worked its way through the system.

Maybe you could try and get this through to the doctor/health visitor/ nurse at your GP surgery or anybody else who will listen. If it were me I would hold off on the mmr too. As Ellsie has already said you know your child best.

[matt]

don't let anyone brow beat you into doing something you don't want to do but also don't risk his health by inaction. go and discuss with the gp and see what they can suggest, get all the info you can then try to make a balanced decision.
good luck

[rebecca c]

My first son had his MMR at 18 months as I had to stop breastfeeding and I wanted to do it before I stopped. My second son had it at 2. This is what I was comfortable with. I decided that there may be a link between the whooping cough vaccine and asthma in my family so I didnt have my second son vaccinated for whooping cough. He is the only member of the family who doesnt have whooping cough.

I am happy with the decisions I made, everybody has given you good advice. Only you know whats best for your child, each surgery gets financial rewards for injecting our children so it is not unbiased advice from the NHS. Would it be worth travelling to London for the seperate jabs?

[monaliza]

well I got the gp to agree that he thinks it is wise to do the jabs without the egg.but the only thing is that they cant do mumps because there isnt a mump jab without the egg,so ive been told to leave that one out.I going to have them done seprate a privite hospital.and yes it is going to cost me but hay my son is more inportant.nhs cant offer it me .there funny really because they are saying that it is up to me and yes he may have a reaction but i have it done at my own rick.
so i dont want to take that risk.seprate jabs are both the same and just as safe. he said.the private doctors say that take seponsabilty for the injections so i cant go wrong as they also have no egg content.
wish me luck with appointments.
lisa

[Copper]

I am pleased that you managed to get through to the GP. I hope that you don't have to wait too long to see the private doctor.

[matt]

good to hear you've been able to get advice and make the decision without undue pressure. hope all goes well sorting out the time to get it done.

[ellsie]

Good news. Keep us up to speed.

[victoriagouramma]

Lisa, I have 4 children. When the first two (now 22 and 20) were little mmr wasn't available. Neither was it when I was little and none of us died for this.
Could you postpone the vaccination till he is older?
Do not let people do what you do not want them to do, but a pediatrician could advise you better?
Victoria

[Camilla Charles]

Both my children are allergic to milk (confirmed by RAST test done at our local hospital they were about 8 months old.) My son also has an egg allergy - proved with a skin pick when he was 2 years.

Both of them had the MMR, and the pre school booster MMR at our local surgery. My son was monitored for about 20mins after and he was fine.

It is a really difficult decision but as my son didn't appear to have an analphalytic reaction I decided that I didn't want the risk of him catching measles etc especially as it seems more children are not being immunised these days.

I think if I had pushed it hard we could have had the jab in hospital....If you are under a consultant at your local hospital, you could seek his/her advice.

[matt]

as a little add on.
my immune system is shot to hell and i had the mmr just a few weeks ago without any problms.
i'd never had mumps and the outbreaks were becoming more regular.

tough and ultimately personal decision on balancing the risks.