I'm furious – the selfish, wrong-headed beliefs of a few precious MMR refuseniks have put my daughter's life at risk
James Randerson guardian.co.uk, Friday 1 May 2009 22.30 BST
My baby daughter is desperately ill and her life has been put at risk by the selfishness of a sizable minority of north London parents and their wrong-headed beliefs about the MMR vaccine. Earlier this week my normally vigorous and feisty 11-month-old was reduced to drowsy, snot-filled lethargy. She refused food, became uncharacteristically listless and developed a hacking cough. Then that evening the measles rash appeared over most of her body – great timing for trying to get an appointment with the doctor. The waiting room was rammed with patients convinced they had contracted swine flu.
That, at least, is a rational fear. The anti-MMR parents have endangered my child (she was due to have the vaccine at 13 months) because of their own ill-informed selfishness – and I'm furious.
The sorry MMR saga began in 1998 with a tiny study (since partially retracted) in the Lancet. Andrew Wakefield and his team described 12 children with both bowel and behavioural problems who underwent various blood tests, gastrointestinal biopsies and lumbar punctures. It was, frankly, a deeply unimpressive piece of science which came to the less than stunning conclusion, "Further investigations are needed to examine this syndrome and its possible relation to this vaccine."
Instead, Wakefield himself is now being investigated by the General Medical Council over the research, because of alleged breaches of medical ethics and financial conflicts of interest. But what followed was a prolonged and shameful journalistic episode, in which Wakefield's speculation and misinformation was spread via flimsy news stories and scandalous comment pieces.
In 2001, at the peak of the media attention when the Blairs refused to say whether Leo had received the jab, I could almost forgive precious parents for being confused. But now there is absolutely no excuse. A shoddy theory has been conclusively quashed.
The World Health Organisation's take on the wealth of studies now out there is that "no evidence exists of a causal association between the MMR vaccine and autism or autistic disorders". On its website on immunisation the NHS states that, "independent experts from around the world have found no credible scientific evidence for such a link and there is now a large amount of evidence showing that there is no link". Trust me, this is as nailed down as science gets.
So anyone who clings to the notion that MMR causes autism is just plain wrong. Worse, if you opt not to have your child vaccinated, you are reducing the "herd immunity" and putting other children at serious risk. To be effective, the jab must cover 95% of the population, but because of the actions of MMR refusniks that is now below 85% – and in some parts of London it is down to 60%.
Those who delay or miss out their child's vaccinations are putting everyone else at risk. Measles is a serious disease that can lead to hearing loss, brain inflammation and death – plus miscarriage in pregnant women.
According to the Health Protection Agency there were 1,348 cases of measles last year, compared with 56 in 1998. In 2006 a 14-year-old boy died of measles – the first fatal case for 14 years. The reduction in herd immunity is causing unnecessary suffering.
The decision by many of my neighbours not to vaccinate their children is on a par with the drunk who decides to get into his car to drive home. It is a personally reckless action that also endangers the lives of everyone else on the road. Society should view the MMR refuseniks with the same degree of scorn.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” Christopher Hitchens
Can they also explain that vaccines here in the UK were taken off the market in 1991 because they were found to be defective, and the vaccines were sold off to Brazil on the cheap and they suddenly had more children having Autism? so is there a link? certain batch numbers of the vaccine were recorded and found to have an increased level of the monkey glad in the vaccine which caused problems with the gut and brain.
The authorities still refuse to admit any link between autism and the MMR jab. Yet this mother tells for the first time how she made them concede it DID cause her child's death.
Last week, the parents of 1,000 children allegedly damaged by the MMR vaccine were sent letters by one of the drug manufacturers, threatening them with huge legal costs if they refused to drop their claims for compensation. One mother, Carol Buxton, found the news particularly shocking. Thirteen years ago, her daughter fell ill and died following the MMR jab. But Carol, a travel consultant who lives with her police officer husband Tony and three sons in Northampton, did get her day in court - with astonishing conclusions. Here, she reveals to BONNIE ESTRIDGE how she made the Government accept liability.
When I heard of this latest twist to the MMR debacle, my blood ran cold. Why should these parents be intimidated into dropping their claims for compensation? If anyone should believe that they are right to fight on, it's me. For not only did my daughter fall ill after she was injected with the controversial triple vaccine, she died as a direct result of it.
How can I be so sure? Because I was paid £85,000 in compensation for her death by the Government. The decision that MMR led to my only daughter's death was confirmed by doctors and agreed at a tribunal.
So what I want to know is: why did the Government admit liability to me when it is vilifying so many others?
I will never forget the moment I opened the door of Hannah's nursery on a winter's night 13 years ago. The room was warm, but I felt a chill throughout my body - I sensed something was wrong. I looked into the cot and froze. My baby had died in her sleep, just two months before her third birthday.
I felt shock, panic and a stabbing emptiness as well as anguish. Hannah had died from one of the hundreds of fits she suffered during her short life. My husband Tony and our three sons were devastated.
The Department of Health was forced to listen to me - and two other families whose children also died - when we brought our case.
But it was only after her death that they paid compensation, admitting that the brain damage she suffered was directly attributed to MMR. So what price do today's parents have to pay before anyone will listen?
We didn't go to court because our daughter died. We had been trying for compensation for some time before because Hannah was very disabled and we wanted her to have some kind of financial security.
She was suffering up to 40 fits a day, but we were told that it would take months or years before a decision could be made. But two years after she died, our case was heard and the link between her illness and MMR was agreed.
Our nightmare began when Hannah was 18 months old, in October 1988. She had been due to have the single measles vaccine at 13 months but had a cold, so our GP and I decided it should not be given.
I had no misgivings about my baby having the single measles vaccine, as my sons - now in their 20s - had all had it with no ill effects.
As we had already booked a holiday, we would have been away at the time of the next available appointment.
Unfortunately, the third time Hannah was called to be vaccinated was the first week the MMR jab was introduced.
I thought nothing of it at all. It seemed a good idea to get everything over in one go. She was fine after it - but a week later, she developed a very high temperature, and became very red in the face.
I called the doctor out and asked him whether he thought there was any link with the vaccine, but he said this was highly unlikely and diagnosed her as having 'slapface syndrome' - a mild virus which causes a high temperature and a marked redness of the face.
I gave her some Calpol to try and bring her temperature down and put her to bed. When I went to tuck the boys up, all was quiet in Hannah's nursery.
But as I opened the door to look in on her, I could hear a strange noise and I froze - she was having convulsions and her eyes were staring and glazed.
I stripped her clothes off and made sure she couldn't bang her head on the side of the cot and then called the doctor.
He arrived minutes later. The doctor looked alarmed because she wasn't calming down at all, and suggested I take her to the hospital, which would be quicker than calling an ambulance.
A neighbour drove us there and when we arrived, Hannah was rushed away for tests. It took almost four hours to stop the fits; then, heavily sedated, she stayed in intensive care for a week.
I mentioned the MMR, but I certainly didn't make a fuss about it because I could see they were more concerned with what was happening at that moment: they had to stop Hannah having these fits.
The doctors said that they didn't think the vaccine had caused it. They explained that it was quite common for babies to have febrile convulsions when they had a high temperature due to a virus. There was no mention of the fact that she might be brain-damaged.
Tony and I were terrified when we took her home, because she was just not right. She was jittery - having always been calm - and had stopped talking.
I felt very frightened that she would have more fits, although she'd been put on medication to prevent them.
Two weeks later, the fits started again. When a brain scan showed nothing, Tony and I embarked on a treadmill of hospital visits, including Great Ormond Street, in an effort to find out what was causing them.
Blanks were drawn everywhere we went. Epilepsy was suggested, but there was no family history of it, or anything on the brain - such as a tumour - to indicate why she should have become epileptic. By then, Hannah was having anything from one to 40 fits a day, of varying intensity.
Looking back, I don't know how I coped. I had the three boys to look after, too, and we tried to make family life normal. But how could it be? I never felt safe to leave Hannah for a minute. It was so stressful to see her suffer.
Hannah was definitely not normal; she had been slow in walking even before having the MMR jab, but I was told that some children take a while to catch up and by the time she was two she'd be fine.
Now, she was frankly backward. She had virtually stopped talking - the only word she ever said now was 'Mummy', which broke my heart whenever she said it, and she always had an unfocused look in her eyes.
She was never diagnosed autistic, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case.
Over the 18 months that we tried to find out what was wrong with Hannah, I could see the doctors were bewildered.
I did not mistrust any of them, even when I found out that a strain of the MMR being used in this country had already been banned in Canada. I truly felt that the doctors were unaware of this - but in hindsight, I'm not completely sure they were.
As it turned out, the MMR vaccination was banned in Japan in 1992, and that country went back to single vaccines from then on.
The day Hannah died everything had been perfect. We'd visited my sister-in-law who had just had a baby and Hannah seemed to be enjoying herself.
That night, I went to look in on her and found her dead in her cot. She'd had a fit in her sleep.
Before Hannah died, Tony and I had been terribly worried about how we would look after her as she got older. We are a comfortably-off family, though not wealthy by any means, and we thought Hannah would need very special care as she got older; we didn't know how we would be able to afford it while also giving our other children a reasonable standard of living.
During Hannah's illness I always felt there was a connection with the MMR vaccine, but my opinion was either dismissed by doctors or they genuinely appeared not to know.
Then, I heard about the Vaccine Damage Unit, a body set up by the Government to look into any case where a person might have been injured by a vaccine. Tony and I decided we would apply for compensation, which would perhaps help us to look after Hannah.
Every so often, I received letters from the unit saying the matter was still being looked into. But two weeks before Hannah died, I had a letter saying that her case was on-going and would probably take months or years to reach a conclusion.
Just after she died, I had another letter saying that the MMR link was unproven, and I became very angry. I believed that they wanted to get rid of this 'problem'.
So, we went to appeal, deciding to represent ourselves. We went to the tribunal in March 1992. There had been an autopsy as this had been a case of sudden death but no conclusions had been drawn from it.There were half a dozen people on the tribunal a mix of lay-people and doctors.
I was questioned thoroughly for an hour and a half, then they said I would be informed whether I would be awarded compensation by post, as all the facts now had to be carefully considered.
Four months later, we received a letter which included the following: 'Hannah Buxton was disabled as a result of a vaccination to which the claim relates.' It also stated: 'The tribunal found it particularly significant that the reaction to the MMR vaccination was exactly at the expected period of time following this vaccination. This reaction was severe and prolonged, and therefore the development and progress were halted and if anything, deteriorated to a marked and obvious extent. We know this evidence is uncontested and to our minds argues strongly in favour of the award.'
In other words, the Government had not argued against the case and were admitting liability.
We were awarded £20,000 - the maximum amount allowed at the time; this was followed by another £65,000, four months later, because the original payment was deemed not to be enough.
I really didn't want to know about the money. I just needed to know why Hannah had become so ill and why she had died.
The most important thing for me is that someone had confirmed what I had always suspected - that the MMR had caused this; that MMR had done so much damage to the brain that she became severely handicapped, and started having fits.
That is why I am so angry that the parents who believe MMR has damaged their children are not being listened to. I have heard that a number of those autistic children also have fits. I cannot imagine what it must be like caring for these children, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for those who do. They must be listened to, given answers and helped.
Does a child have to die before it is acknowledged to have been damaged by MMR? Is it not enough that so many parents have a disabled child to look after?
Of course, not every child is damaged by the MMR jab. But if there is any doubt, then that case should be investigated individually - the parents should not simply be fobbed off as a group because they are fighting together.
There should be a tribunal for each and every one of them, to prove or disprove that there is a link between their child's illness and MMR.
Someone needs to come clean about MMR, as this problem goes on and on. Our children are getting pushed into having this vaccination, and doctors should listen to parents when they say they are afraid of what might happen.
The Government should not deny parents the option of single measles vaccine.
Hannah was my precious only girl, and barely more than a baby when she died. Now, I want today's children to have a better chance.
There must be a proper investigation into MMR - drug companies which are paying doctors to conduct their own research surely cannot give unbiased answers.
Vaccine damage is known and recognised. Last year more than 1,000 Japanese children were awarded compensation after being damaged by MMR vaccination. Those families had been battling for more than ten years to have their day in court.
Why can't parents in this country be given the chance to be heard - and taken seriously - now?
Vaccine damage is known and recognised. Last year more than 1,000 Japanese children were awarded compensation after being damaged by MMR vaccination. Those families had been battling for more than ten years to have their day in court.
I am convinced totally the MMR was a trigger for my son. These people who call the parents selfish,irresponsible etc etc obviously have not seen the child they know and love dissapear overnight directly after recieveing the MMR Jab.
Is this really the parents being so selfish,or the goverment enforcing medication and not allowing the seperate vaccines to be used and available for everyone.Give the parents a choice for gods sakes,they want to vaccinate their children,allow them the availablility to do so.
There are obviously many issues with the mmr and I am deepely saddened to read the terrible stories of loss that are in this thread. I am the chair of governors of a school that specialises in educating children on the autistic spectrum and spoke at length with the specialists to get their opinions on the matter.They are not convinced that there is a link with the mmr as they say the first signs of autistic spectrum disorders typically show at the same time as the vaccines are scheduled and this is just a coincidence.Now I know people will disagree with this and I dont want to have a row over this as I do not hold a specific opinion on the matter. I just wanted to share an expert opinion that I had received on the matter. All my children had the mmr vaccine and had no ill effect although my youngest son has A.D.D which is now considered part of the autistic spectrum, I do not consider that to be linked to it. I do however believe that all children should be vaccinated and we should have the choice on single vaccines but people should be aware of the increased levels of mercury your child will recieve if they have the single vaccines.
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Understand where you are coming from Mr Pillsbury,though I do disagree to an extent. Autism is more commonly recognised much earlier than when the vaccinations are due in the majority of children,the toddlers who develop this condition later around the 18 month onwards stage in their development is far rarer! The problem is with educational experts is much of their research and knowledge comes from govermental sources, vetted and so on.
Anyone who disagrees with the goverment stand on the MMR normally is frowned upon and ejected from their positions.
I am convinced totally the MMR was a trigger for my son.
There are many people who claim that a very few individuals are susceptible to autism from the MMR vaccine.
The rate would have to be very low to avoid detection in epidemiological studies. So it's a possibility that a very few children have been given autism from the MMR but it hasn't been picked up.
The problem I have with this is that if this were true you would very rarely ever come across a case. But, when we were talking about this on here a few weeks back I personally also came across two other people (on other forums) who claimed their child's autism was caused by the MMR vaccine exactly as you have done. If you read any forum topic discussing this issue you always seem to get people with the same story.
If there were as many cases as there are claims then the issue would be beyond doubt!
These people who call the parents selfish,irresponsible etc etc obviously have not seen the child they know and love dissapear overnight directly after recieveing the MMR Jab.
Is this really the parents being so selfish,or the goverment enforcing medication and not allowing the seperate vaccines to be used and available for everyone.Give the parents a choice for gods sakes,they want to vaccinate their children,allow them the availablility to do so.
It's wrong to call the parents anything. I also have a very good online friend who also believed (past tense) that her son's autism was caused by the MMR jab and there's no doubt that she was perfectly genuine in her belief.
As has been pointed out, regressive autism often occurs around the same time that the first MMR jab is given and because the two things occur closely in time we assume one caused the other (psychological contiguity).
As the early indicators of autism become better researched and understood, it might be possible to test for the likelihood of autism being present long before the jabs are given. If regressive autism develops whether vaccination is given or not then it will be potentially possible to rule out/in any MMR-Autism link even in only very special circumstances.
Research is now being carried out using home videos of children that were made before autism was suspected or diagnosed. This is particularly helpful as it eliminates problems like recall bias (stories of perfectly normal kids one day being autistic the next are most likely examples of recall bias).
If early signs of autism can be detected using this video evidence then the impact of vaccination can be examined.
I have a research paper on this somewhere and although I haven't read it for a while, I'm sure there was no difference between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups for autism rates - which goes against the link hypothesis.
It's a very important issue and hopefully it will be resolved more fully in the not too distant future.
JABS are an anti-vaccination group who deal a lot in propaganda.
That's worth knowing as they certainly are not impartial and I wouldn't say a trustworthy source of information either.
How can you judge? on other information given inoculations are highly toxic substances and given wrongly or the mixture is too concentrated can cause problems medically. You may think Jabs are not impartial but look at it this way, how many children today are maimed by vaccine or killed as a result? the website was done as a source of information either right or wrong it's a site that has been online for quite a number of years.
From what I have read it is not solely anti vaccine it's more of make an informed choice. They battled for children to have single vaccines and in some circumstances it saved lives. I have also read a site that promotes no vaccines, remember most vaccines can make you immune system faulty, making one with an autoimmune disease, I talk from experience because I have an auto immune disease, was that as a result of a vaccine? MAYBE. Here is an exert from a website www.vaccination.co.uk/
HEALTHY AND NO VACCINATIONS: Molly and Isabelle's first Trip to Ireland in 2004 to visit their late great great aunt Daicy who was 94 at the time. There are four generations in this picture and none of them had been vaccinated against Measles, Mumps, Whooping Cough, Chicken pox, normal childhood illness when aunt Daicy was young "children were happy to have a week off school".
No one disputes that there can be complications from infectious diseases, the most likely reason being compromised immune systems due to poor social conditions. In fact in January 1959 during on of the worst measles epidemics on record; The British Medical Journal reported that "measles was the commonest infection in the world and that complications were extremely rare thanks to improved living conditions". Almost fifty years later despite continued improvement in living standards, parents are being told measles is a killer disease, because the government wants everybody vaccinated. In April 2006 it was reported that for the first time in fourteen years someone, a 13 year old boy had died from complications after contracting measles. Was it the measles that killed this boy or the fact he was a traveler, with a lung disease that required immunosupressive medication. The government wants me and other parents to vaccinate our children with the risks involved so this unfortunate child is protected by heard immunity? I believe the answer is in better social conditions, vaccination helps cover up health problems in the poorest part of our society where child poverty in the UK is one of the highest in the EU.
The fact is, it is cheaper to vaccinate than deal with the social conditions that predispose many children to complications from infectious diseases. Are vaccinated children healthier than unvaccinated? No one knows, and is anybody looking? In fact there is much scientific evidence that demonstrates a link between vaccination and autoimmune disorders (i.e. asthma , eczema), which are now considered the normal childhood illnesses. There is also much evidence that infection strengthens the immune system of children. I will share my experience on this website, of bringing up our children with the emphasis of optimising their immune systems with active lifestyles and good nutrition.
The little boys in the picture are Sean and Dan who were five and six, they are Molly Isabelle and Eloise's first cousins. None of these children has ever had medicine of any kind to treat illness including Calpol. They were all breast fed for twelve months. They eat mostly home cooked organic food, and get lots of fresh air and exercise.
The girls are in nursery in London the boys go to school in Dublin. In the coming years I will keep a journal about the childrens health and how they cope with illness, this may be useful to other parents trying to promote family health. All the children have contracted Chicken pox, Rubella, and most recently Whooping cough which was also contracted by Elosie when she was only two weeks old with no ill effects, beyond many sleepless nights for mommy and daddy.
You know it always intrigues me when it is stated that regressive Autism etc develops around the same time children are due these vaccinations. The thing is (and certainly in mine and others cases) this development happens overnight, or over a few days oddly enough the same day/same week as the child had the vaccination.
So I wonder what the percentage would be for children,within various stages of development,aging from 15-22 months on the same day/same week they have the MMR all of a sudden on that same day the Autism just happens to develop overnight/over a few days! Not progressive,instantaneously!
Go back a few decades where parents had measles parties and chicken pox parties, children caught the diseases got over them well enough and become immune. Pumping the body with various vaccines surely over time would cause problems. One day the truth will come out and until then we live in hope that the cause of Autism is found.
Go back a few decades where parents had measles parties and chicken pox parties, children caught the diseases got over them well enough and become immune. Pumping the body with various vaccines surely over time would cause problems. One day the truth will come out and until then we live in hope that the cause of Autism is found.
Sorry, but I really do think you ought to stop reading sites like JABS if you believe that pile of crap.
If autism is caused by the MMR vaccinine why do you suppose there are so many more boys diagnosed as autistic than girls - I believe the ratio is 4 to 1? Doesn't this suggest that the cause is almost certainly genetic?