h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I absoultely agree with that. Thanks for a good summing up

I think I posted somewhere else. I am largely in favour of MMR as my family very nearly suffered from a similar scare when I was a child. As the time there was a scare about children with eczema being at risk from brain damage if vaccinated against whooping cough. Neither myself nor my sister were vaccinated and my sister contracted whooping cough - although she's alive and well to tell the tale.

Being a practising scientist I notice an almost continual bomabardment from the popular press of misinformed toss (for lack of a better word) against virtually every form of the subject these days. Usually it seems to be scaremongering about risks that are similar to those of getting hit by a meteorite or actually going on a date with Marilyn Monroe. maybe I'm wrong in this scenario but this case looks fairly similar to me at the moment.

Being at the chemical end of drug design I'm well aware that it is never possible to design a drug that noone is going to be allergic to or have a bad reaction to. This of course is terrible for those families affected but imagine if smallpox vaccine came out now and maybe 0.001% of the population reacted to it. Would the benifits outweigh the drawbacks. I think so.

As I said above, publicity has reduced public confidence to level where insufficient numbers are being vaccinated. More research is *definitely* needed.

I think I remember the whooping cough thing. On advice from my GP, I wasn't given it. I got whooping cough when I was in secondary school; a very nasty business where I would cough until my lungs were empty and then couldn't breath in. I wound up in hospital twice. IT was even worse than asthma.

Yeesh - in secondary school???!!!

Didn't know you could get it that late.

They never really got to the bottom of what the cause was, but whooping cough was the best guess. I exhibited the distinctive cough.

I got Mumps in secondary (well Upper for me) school.

Very unpleasant as a 15 year old - but it didn't do it's dirtiest thank god.

It's true that the risk from this and that is usually exaggerated by an over-excited media. The "risk" from mobile phones (a tiny amount of radiation) is a good example.

Regarding MMR, well Tony Blair still won't say if his children have been immunised (and since, if they were immunised, he'd right now be going around telling us about it, you know politicians and their "I'd let my own children...." spiel) but seems to think everyone else should have the jab. Here's my reading of this:

There is a risk from the MMR jab, but compared to a measles etc. epidemic, the Government believes it would be minimal. However, Blair has not has his own kids done for fear of said risk.

Also, isn't it interesting how the media is reporting a few kids with measles in London. Funny, but when I was a kid and local kids got measles it never made national news. Do you think they're trying to scare us in some way?

My daughter wasn't offered MMR as she was too old when it was introduced.However she would have much preffered not to have mumps and I as a 34 year old mother would much rather have not caught it from her.It was extremely painful and my husband also had to stay away from work as he also caught it albeit in a mild form.My son was young enough for the MMR and I couldn't help thinking how it saved all that waiting room time to do three vacinations at the same time.I wonder how many children will miss boosters and catch up vaccinations due to lack of time and illness?
In France and elsewhere in Europe,children are unable to start school unless their parents can produce an up to date vaccination card.No vaccination card that is up to date NO SCHOOL for the child until they have been vaccinated.Seems an excellent solution to me.

Incog.