Why are parents refusing to have their children immunized with the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, and rubella)?

Question

It will not harm them. I just don't understand? Why run the risk of infection when it can be prevented.

Answer 1

My daughter got her MMR shot @ 15 months. 10 days later she broke out in this horrible rash which i thought at first was chicken pox. I took her to the doctor they said dont worry about it sent me home. Next day the dots had multiplied. I took her back to the doctor and saw a different person. She said she saw a case of this a few days before. The rash was german measles but not a contageous form. It looked and itched as normal german measles but that was it. We had to give benadryl and oatmeal baths and coat my daughter in calamine lotion and hydracortisone for days! She was miserable and had lots of trouble sleeping. Looking back i dont konw if i would have gone with that immunization, but the docs say becaues her reaction was so great she probably will not need to be innoculated again at age 5 like they would normally do.

Answer 2

Because some people believe it isn't safe to pump that many chemicals into a small child all at once. Because with so many vaccines suggested in such a short span of time, people get worried about what they are putting in their babies. Because NO vaccine is a 100% guarantee against disease. Because some kids may have health issues that make the vaccines unsafe for them. (Such as an egg allergy.) Because older siblings may have had a reaction to the vaccine. Because they may want to wait until the child is older and not growing so quickly to vaccinate them. There are tons of reasons.

EDITED TO ADD:
jellybean - I suppose you're trying to be a smart-alek, but you're actually wrong. Dr. Sears DOES NOT recommend against vaccination. In this link -
http://iparenting.com/sears/answers/vaccinations.htm
he specifically says, "In general, I recommend the same series and schedule as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics" and then goes on to say that, if you choose to selectively vaccinate, "I would definitely recommend two of the vaccines the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) and the HIB (a vaccine against the serious germ that causes meningitis, pneumonias and ear infections in infants and toddlers.) The new DPT (called the acellular or aDPT) causes fewer reactions than the old one, and is generally recommended since whooping cough (the "P" in DPT stands for pertussis) is still a widespread and serious illness, especially in infants under a year. You could wait for the Hepatitis B vaccine until your child is a teenager. The chicken pox vaccine is optional, although I recommend that it be given if your child hasn't naturally the gotten chicken pox by school-age."

Answer 3

you get immunized for mmr when you are an infant.

studies show that as many as 85% of children do not require a second vaccination. you need to give the child a titer test to see if re vaccination is necessary.

there are studies that suggest over vaccination can cause infertility and other problems later in life.

big pharma is behind the over vaccination, they just want to sell more vaccine.

Answer 4

For some people, this type of thing is against their religion. They think that human intervention in this area is against God's will.

Also, there is some scientific studies out there that show that the mercury in the shots given to people (yes, there is a small amount of mercury in every shot) causes autism in some children. So, there might be some harm to getting MMR shots.

Answer 5

Some chilren in very rare cases end up having a bad reaction to being immunized. There have been a very few cases were there has been brain damage. Again VERY FEW
In my opinion the rewards far out way the risk.

Answer 6

There is a possibility that the child could have a horrible reaction. Each case is different. My brother and I both had the immunizations and went through it fine. My sister on the other hand, well, it put her in the hospital.

Answer 7

Alot of people don't believe in it. Myself I still had my children get there immunizations. My husband's family has a long strand of being allergic some how to them, and a few people on his side of the family are now mentally retarded because of the immunizations. Maybe it is against there religion. Who knows.

Answer 8

Because some parents are afraid of allergic reactions or even autism. May be they feel if their son or daughter were to get sick and die from a vaccination, it would be their fault and they could've prevented it. They don't want the guilt and sadness. I would vaccinate though....especially for small pox and polio.

Answer 9

I guess they feel that their could be negative side effects. I got both of my children vaccinated and thought it was not an option to decline the shots until I saw it on a television show recently but I am definately glad I chose to.

Answer 10

I think one reason people use is that for a few years people were saying that the rise in Autism was from our immunizations. That has since proven to be false, but some people are dangerously stubborn.