Ask
Our Experts: MMR Jab - Really Necessary?
MMR is a big concern for many parents of toddlers. Family GP, Dr Sue
Morrison, advises on when to withhold the jab, and where to go for a homeopathic
alternative.
Raisingkids member's problem
My son is 13 months old and hasn't had
his MMR injection yet as he's been ill recently. I'm cautious about the
injection and only want him to have it if he's in top health.
However, he's had a persistent night-time cough
- how long can I keep putting off the injection? Should I wait until he
is fully fit? A friend said she'd heard of a homeopathic MMR jab - is
there such a thing?
Dr Morrison's advice
There are 3 main reasons for avoiding
immunisations when a child is unwell. First, the child may have antibodies
to the original infection and these will fight against the vaccine. Second,
if a child develops a serious illness after immunisation, it’s difficult
to know what’s due to the pre-existing illness and what to the vaccine.
Lastly, some immunisations work by introducing a small degree of infection
into the body.
Potentially, this gives the child 2 infections to fight off at once. Night
coughs are not uncommon in young children, and are not usually due to
infection, but rather to an irritability in the lungs a little like a
wheeze (although your baby won’t sound wheezy). This often follows
a respiratory infection and can last for a couple of months or so. It’s
important to see a GP so that an accurate diagnosis can be made.
To answer your second question, yes, there are so-called 'potentised'
homeopathic vaccines, which work in a different way BUT these should only
be used with careful supervision by a homeopath. Traditional medical opinion
does not believe this to be an effective form of immunisation, but this
is an area of enormous dispute and disagreement.
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