How instrumental has the Dr Wakefield story been in your choice whether to vaccinate your children?

[ema-adama]

I am trying to understand just what role Dr Wakefield and his work have played in parents making vaccination decision.

[Proverbs31]

For me, not at all. I swore off vaxes 3 years ago, but I never even heard of Wakefield until a few months ago.

[mysticmomma]

what wakefield story?

[_betsy_]

Who's Wakefield?

[carriebft]

I think you will find more influence in Europe than here in the USA where I am. Here I think people gravitate more towards the 'toxin' beliefs and, those who see a connection to autism, think more like McCarthy than Wakefield when it comes to causation.

[spero]

No influence at all.

[sadean]

Not at all. I don't know who Dr. Wakefield is. Off to Google...

[Mirzam]

Zero.

[ema-adama]

Sorry for the delay in getting the poll up and running. If there are any other options that I have not covered, please let me know. It is a multiple choice poll if more than one option suits you.

[emma1325]

I'm a little familiar with his work, and it did add to my concern regarding vaccinations in general.

I don't pretend to have all (or most) of the science figured out, but I do think that when you interfere with the biological norm of a child, you're asking for trouble.

I also think it's outrageously suspicious that the organizations which regulate vaccines recommend a one-size-fits-all schedule and 5-8 vaccines per visit...without much concern for individual medical needs of each child.

[tmaue]

Not sure if this fits very well into any of the choices, but I knew about his work but had already made my decision based on other things, so while it gave me cause for concern, it was not the cause of concern when deciding not to vax.

[babynatasha]

Oops, I hit the wrong button! I meant to say I had never heard of him but was concerned about vaccinations, not I had never heard of him but wasn't concerned. Eek, there is now way now to change my answer.

[shuttlt]

Even in the UK, I suspect that his impact is more in terms of raising the profile of the story rather than people being converted by their faith in him or the specifics of his study.

[Deborah]

My concern about vaccines goes back to my grandparents, who were the first in the family to go against vaccines. I did start researching in depth in 1999 when my first grandkid was on the way and the info about Wakefield was one of the first stories I encountered. Even without Wakefield, I would have told my daughter to be very cautious about vaccinating and to consider every vaccine individually.

[shuttlt]

Originally Posted by Deborah

My concern about vaccines goes back to my grandparents, who were the first in the family to go against vaccines. I did start researching in depth in 1999 when my first grandkid was on the way and the info about Wakefield was one of the first stories I encountered. Even without Wakefield, I would have told my daughter to be very cautious about vaccinating and to consider every vaccine individually.

I always forget how far back the roots of the anti-vax movement goes.

[Justmee]

Originally Posted by _betsy_

Who's Wakefield?

:

but still not vaxing over here at the moment.

[Deborah]

Originally Posted by shuttlt

I always forget how far back the roots of the anti-vax movement goes.

I suspect that about 10 minutes after Jenner got his bright idea someone jumped up and said: "But that is going to be very dangerous!"

And they were right. It was. Whether it was less dangerous than smallpox is still argued up and down and right and left.

Alternative medicine goes back a long way too. My grandfather, originally a dentist, became an alternative practioner.

I was lucky enough to be born into a really out of the mainstream family.

[CanidFL]

I read about Wakefield while researching vaccines and his work caused concern for me. It was not the only thing but I did not dismiss it as nothing.

[grisandole]

I was familiar with the study but it played no real role in my decision as the vax=autism was not really what concerned me about vax at all.

[ema-adama]

I was not aware of Wakefield when I didn't vaccinate my LO at 2 months. My FIL (doctor) brought this study to my attention trying to reassure me that there is nothing to worry about as it was just 12 children and many subsequent studies have proven his initial claim of MMR/autism link to be incorrect. I had no idea what he was talking about. It was not a factor.
Now my curiosity is piqued.