Immunisations

I had measles very badly when I was a small child and it has affected my eyesight. I was told I was delirious for several days. I can also remember trying desperately to persuade my mother a few years later that I didn't need the new polio vaccination - without success! Do you remember the poor children who had to spend their lives in an iron lung or walk around with metal calipers on their legs.
We had a TB clinic near where we lived in Gloucestershire - how many of those are still around now?
As MOnica says, you are depending on the vast majority of parents having their children vaccinated so that you can hope your children/grandchildren do not catch one of these terrible diseases.

Before the whooping cough vaccination my sister nearly died of whooping cough, my other sister was very ill for over three months. Another friend has permanently damaged lungs from the same disease. I and my sister missed nearly 2 terms off schooling as a result of having variously measles whooping cough and chicken pox.

As a result of immunisations small pox has been completely eliminated from the world and polio is getting that way. Prior to this every years 10s of 1,000s of people died or were left permanently crippled or scarred as the result of these diseases

I had a BCG (TB immunisation) when I was eight. I had a festering wound on my arm for over 3 months, but it was worth it. It was the early 1950s and I lived in Hong Kong at the time. TB was rife and I am very glad my parents put the vaccination ahead of taking the risk of me getting TB, despite the months of discomfort.

The only reason you and/or your daughter can enjoy the luxury of choosing not to have these immunisations is because all but a small minority of parents do have their children vaccinated.

I wonder what has contributed to the drastic drop in childhood mortality over the past century

Having seen a previously healthy 11 year old become very ill with "just" measles, personally I would not be hesitating to immunize against anything. For that daughter it was the trigger for a struggle with asthma and skin allergies that took years to settle down. She'd been vaccinated but I was told she'd have suffered even more without it.

I wonder how many .......

Meningitis is no respector of either good diets or clean living conditions. A localised response to an immunisation I would see as a positive sign that the infant is exhibiting a good immune response. Aliminium in a litre of infant formula is vaguely equal to that of a vaccine and it is also present in breast milk. I wonder many incidences and lasting side effects of meningitis the OP has seen?

Trust the expertise of the medical profession.Children are so lucky nowadays to have all this preventative medicine.I don't agree that meningitis is rare.I know of several youngsters affected by it.

What Lucky says.

Just b*** get on and do it! We are so lucky to have these preventive measures for our children. Have you ever visited a Victorian graveyard and seen the rows of tiny graves for lost children?

I am tired of these threads that cast doubt upon immunisation - they crop up every now and again and cause others immense heartache and fear about something that is so very simple.

Better a few days of fever and a sore arm than meningitis. It is a killer.

I dont know much about this, but I dont think meningitis is that rare. I know children who have had it. In different circumstances.
Perhaps it is more rife in this area? There was a mini outbreak here and someone sadly died.