The decision to immunise or not is a very emotive topic for most parents. The decision is made harder because of the opposing sides taken by the government and some scientists/parent groups.

Our aim here is to not try to persuade you one way or other on the subject. However, we have highlighted five possible sources of information that will give you an overview of the immunisation debate.

We've also included a quote from one of our visitors that sums up how we feel about making the decision, some of your thoughts about the new 5 in 1 vaccine and a site that provides information about single MMR vaccines.

Information Links

The first source is the government backed Health Promotion web site: www.immunisation.org.uk. While you may not feel that the sceptics' viewpoint is fully reviewed the site does give concise information about all the immunisations and the reasons why they are recommended.

The second source is The Informed Parent

PO Box 4481
Worthing
West Sussex
BN11 2WH

Tel/Fax: 01903 212969

www.informedparent.co.uk

This organisation provides support and information on your vaccination decision and produces a quarterly newsletter. This enables parents to make an informed choice.

The third source is from the NHS - terribly slow when tested (we have not yet managed to progress beyond the home page) and it is not exactly clear how to proceed unless you are a qualified doctor - and sometimes you get a page full of "mySQL errors" - but as they have gone to the trouble of publishing it we mention it here.

www.immunisation.nhs.uk

The fourth source is an interesting one also found on the Internet. It is a scientific publication from Australia that can be found at www.skeptics.com.au.

The article I refer to looks at the views of immunisation sceptics and tries to be objective about their claims. Written by a scientist it is actually quite readable and has some credibility because it is one scientist reviewing another scientist's claims.

The fifth source is sense.

sense says - Remember Rubella

sense - the national charity for children and adults who are both deaf and blind-is calling on parents making decisions about MMR to bear in mind the effects of rubella.

sense is a family-orientated organisation with roots in the rubella epidemics of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. They do not support the call for single vaccines as an alternative to the MMR vaccination.

"Today few children are born deafblind as a result of rubella. Let's keep it that way."

sense has set up a micro website full of information about its Remember Rubella campaign, rubella, deafblindness and the scientific background to the MMR debate.
www.sense.org.uk/campaignnews/campaigns/rubella/

sense

11-13 Clifton Terrace
London
N4 3SR

020 7272 7774
Fax: 020 7272 6012
enquiries@sense.org.uk