MMR vaccine and Autism

Posted On April 7, 2017

I was not aware about the pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine movements spreading around the world and all over social media until I got my daughter her 12 months MMR vaccine – (Mumps, Measles and Rubella). It was an overwhelming experience to understand MMR and it’s horror as it’s being linked to autism in children. Autism is a mental disorder that affects social interactions, communications, behaviour and interest in people. It’s common health issues are gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, seizures, sleep disturbances, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and phobias.

The day my daughter got vaccinated I didn’t notice anything worrying, she was playful and active like any other day until she began to show some discomfort later that evening. Her legs were started to wobble which made her difficult to walk, she was crying a lot than usual, got clingy, and was screaming in pain throughout the whole night. I thought I shouldn’t have rushed to vaccinate her and waited little longer. However, after a day she started to show some improvement and gradually got better within few days.

After a few weeks, she got rashes around her neck and then her back and belly, so basically it was spreading. So, I went to see the doctor and found out to be a normal rash which disappeared on its own after a day or two. Other than that after the MMR vaccination she is doing pretty well, seems very attentive, active and playful baby.

So, what’s the fact about MMR vaccine? The former UK medical researcher Andrew Wakefield studied and confirmed the association between MMR and autism in his 1998 research paper. However, his findings has been confirmed a hypothesis and has been charged with fraudulent to discredit the medical research by deliberately falsifying the finding and creating fear among the people to get their children vaccinated. Due to this, the immunisation rate has been dropped significantly mostly in UK, Ireland, United states, and Canada. As a result, the diseases like Measles, Mumps and Rubella are significantly rising and has been detected mostly in children who missed their MMR vaccination.

With the children who were vaccinated, they only had few side-effects such as rashes and mild fever, apart from that there were no signs of autism found. The national Autistic society itself has also confirmed that there is no link between autism and MMR vaccine. The cause of Autism is still unknown and it’s definitely not because of MMR vaccine, I believe. It has been believed that the cause of Autism is due to genetic disorder, various environmental factors and also been associated with infection during pregnancy and use of alcohol and cocaine.

So, being a Mother, its natural to get anxious about everything that relates to your child’s well-being and when there is ridiculous amount of information available in the internet then obviously its overwhelming for everyone. To choose to vaccinate or not is the choice but when it’s epidemic and affects not only your child but others as well then it turn out to be not merely a choice but a responsibility as a human being. Measles, Mumps are contagious diseases which is air borne and lives up to 2 hours in the air, so why risk other people because of your choice. It is wiser to educate yourself by asking the professionals and healthcare people rather than following what’s written in the social media.

I am satisfied that I got my child MMR vaccine and trusted the medical science before it would’ve been too late. It’s better to see your child get side-effects for few weeks rather than see them suffer from deadly disease. The controversies on medical science research and inventions were there years ago, it’s still there and always will be there for many more years to come so consult with the doctors and nurses if you have any doubts before getting your child vaccinated, know the side-effects and also check if your child need the MMR vaccination or not and eventually make a right choice for your little ones.

♥Thank you♥