WHEN my daughter was pregnant, she developed pre-eclampsia.

As a result my grandson was born prematurely and very small; he weighed less than four pounds at birth.

After six weeks in intensive care, he was allowed home; he was still a little scrap that you could hold in the palm of one hand.

He could not be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), polio or TB.

He was too young and too weak.

If he had contracted even the mildest of these diseases, he could have easily died.

My daughter lives in an area along the South Coast where totally false stories about the side effects have deterred many parents from getting their children vaccinated.

Until he was strong enough to be immunised, my daughter was extremely fearful that my grandson would come into contact with an infected child or adult.

You cannot tell who is infected; the patient is most infectious before the symptoms become apparent.

So when someone says that they had mumps (for instance) and it never did them any harm, it is not a reason for not getting a child vaccinated.

Not immunising your child could kill another child nearby.

JAMES PHILLIPS

Royston Drive, Wimborne