Topic: It's arrived

[MrsKP]

how will avian flu affect you ?

tbh i'm slightly more concerned about the death of a boy from measles than i am from avian flu, but how are others reading this.

[rosebud]

I know somebody on here who will be devastated by this news.

[MrsKP]

i didn't mean to sound as if i didn't care, but that there is more to worry about from the measles death imho.

i'm sure the appropriate measures have been taken by all affected parties i.e. poultry farmers, chook owners, bird feeders i.e. us, proper standards of hygiene etc, and that it was only a matter of time before it arrived.

what IS worrying is that we had measles under wraps and now its back.

i'm asking those who know more than me for the real concerns rather than media scaremongering (i don't trust the press).

[katynewbie]

:-\

Had not linked the two things til you mentioned it, but see your point. My heart goes out to those keeping birds now. But it IS one incident...maybe there will not be too many more?

Always was an optimist.

[rosebud]

I think all young children should be vaccinated against measles its a dreadful illness my sister had it when we were very young and i shall never forget it.
my 3 children had the jab as soon as they could they are grown up now and their children have had the jab, its such a pity that some poor little mites have a dreadful reaction but it does save a lot of suffering and lives .
Yes we did get rid once but no jabs seems to have let it surface again, lets hope it dosen`t cause a panic.  As you say we cannot always trust the press they tend to panic people.  Rosebud. ;D

[MrsKP]

My daughter had the mmr jab before all the controversy, and i'm glad i didn't have to make the should i/shouldn't i decision.

i'm looking at my wee birdies now hoping that with all due care and attention, that it will be if not a one off (i don't think we'll be that lucky), but at least kept under control.

I'm far more inclined to read the RSPB site than the media for advice.

Good positive thoughts are winging their way to everyone out there.

 ;D

Edit: having just read the Your Comments page of the BBC site, it would appear that others share my mistrust of the press and their lust for a good story. 

p.s. sorry for the earlier link which was totally unrelated.  goodness knows where that came from  :o

[Fingle....]

Those of us who tend the soil and dont have hyper clean lives, stand to fare better than most, as we have an immune system !!

[sallylockhart]

I agree - imho, its such a shame that parents now seem to think that the right thing to do is mollycoddle their children in a perfectly sterile world - and then they wonder why they get allergies!

My mum let me play in the mud, fall off things and I always went barefoot when I was little - and as she points out - I didn't have one stomach upset until I went to university (student living - ahem)

The think that does worry me is the fact cats are notorious for getting flu from other animals, and while not many people regularly snuggle their chickens (am sure that some do  ;) ), there are lots of people with cats out there.

Getting kittens might be out for a while methinks.   :(

[MrsKP]

i wonder why that is ?  keep them in a sterile bubble, whilst filling them full of junk food and fizzy drinks at the same time (i know i'm preaching to the converted here  :P) and they call it progress.

a very odd world we live in.

[micsmum]

It should be made LAW to have children vaccinated  against these dreadfull illnesses which were nearly eradicated. I know some babies cant be - my bosses son couldn't . The risk of an unborn baby being born severely deformed if in contact with Rubella is far, far higher than that posed by the triple vaccine and  Mumps can cause sterility in adult males. These people are not considering others when refusing to have their babies vaccinated.

Mind you, I had mine in 1962 and it didn't take! I didnt find out until I was tested after giving birth 12 years ago and was promptly "re done". Apparently the triple vaccine was ineffective for about 1 - 2% of the UK population - no wonder I had two out of the three illnesses (mumps and Rubella) when I was little!
Helen

[busy_lizzie]

My son had terrible eczema when he was little so the doctor advised against the measles jab because it was thought he would react badly to it.  However when he was 15 my son had full blown measles really badly and was very ill with it. At the time I wished I had ignored the advice and gone for the jab. It can be a very dangerous disease. busy_lizzie

[moonbells]

I remember getting measles very well... was 11, middle of summer holidays, about to go for fortnight to Wales and I started feeling rotten. Next thing I know, went bright red with white spots (as in the only bits of me that *didn't* have the rash!) high fever and Mum was convinced it was something odd but it couldn't be measles as I wasn't spotty, just totally covered.

Dr came - locum - took one look, burst out laughing and said, "Oh dear - that's definitely measles!"

Didn't get to have much fun on hol though - first week decent weather, couldn't go in sea as I was recovering still. Second week, allowed in, but weather foul. Hey ho.

Mumps I had at 5. Can't remember it apart from vague hamster references.

Rubella might have had (they never did work out what I caught at 7) but had jab at school anyway.

Now chicken pox is another story... would advise anyone with kiddies to get them infected as young as possible! I was 16 - AUGH.  That was blooming awful... still have keloid scars.

moonbells

[busy_lizzie]

My worst childish ailment was whooping cough.  I coughed so much that it damaged my lungs so they don't clear normally.  I developed something called bronchiectasis and I have to manually drain my lungs in the morning and the evening and have a special sloping couch to lie on while I drain them.  I started having to do this about 24 years ago though can manage it quite well now after many difficulties with chest infections, so if I ever hear a child with a prolonged cough, I start to feel really concerned for them.  busy_lizzie

[katynewbie]

:(

Had measles when I was 4, can still remember lying on the sofa with a pair of huge sunglasses on cos the light hurt my eyes!!

Chickenpox in my 30's, would not wish it on my worst enemy!!

As an only child I was sent by my Mum to play with any local child who had ANYTHING, so that I would catch it! Also was permanently filthy from playing in woods/fields/veg patches and think I had a healthy immune system as a result!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

I had chicken pox when I was 15, it was a dreadful experience. Measles and mumps I had, mildly, when I was about four or five; everyone had them back then. Since then I've had ME and a mysterious chest infection which laid me up for some time last year.

[MonsterMum]

I have an 18 month old daughter and for me and her dad the decision to have her immunised was a tough one.  Luckily for us about 2 weeks before it was due they released the evidence proving beyond all doubt that the MMr had nothing to do with children having autism.

It's a terrible coincidence that autism is usually discovered in children at about 1 yr, which is when they are due the MMR

For us there was no decision.  We accepted that she had to have the jab.  We couldn't have afforded to pay privately for the separate jabs, nor would we have wanted to put her through it - 1 is bad enough!

As for bird flu - I agree that the press cause too much hype and at the moment I'm not too worried

[greenstar]

I have two boys aged 3 and 7.  Of course it was worrying getting them immunised with all the (what we now know to be) rubbish that was around at the time.  I made sure  I read everythjing that I could, and made the decision that the MMR was the lesser of the two evils.  The risk from measles is so much worse than any supposed risk from the vaccine.   I remember the boy next door to me when I was growing up contracted measles and suffered severe brain damage as a result.  I couldn't have lived with exposing to my children to that risk.

Check out the Bad Science website (http://www.badscience.net/) - Dr Ben Goldacre gives the whole MMR scare thing a right pasting.