MMR controversy

By Merill Haseen

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THE MMR controversy has reared up again.

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Dr Andrew Wakefield, a consultant in gastroenterology at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, claims that he has identified nearly 170 cases of a new syndrome of autism and bowel disease in children who have had the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

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The vaccine is currently given to children twice, once at about a year old and the second time at about four-years-old.

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Dr Wakefield first suggested a link between the MMR vaccination and autism in 1998 in a paper published in The Lancet. In his most recent paper, he criticises the short follow-up period of the original clinical trials of the MMR jab, and claims that researchers have known since 1979 of a possible link.

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Dr Wakefield believes that the safest mode of vaccination is for the three jabs to be given separately.

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However, Dr David Salisbury, the head of the Government's immunisation programme, insisted that MMR was safe.

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Department of Health officials used reports from a number of independent experts to invalidate claims that the MMR vaccine was not tested thoroughly enough before being introduced. It pointed out that a number of children were monitored for longer than the 28 days stated by Wakefield.

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The report also referred to foreign studies which showed no link with autism or bowel disease. Research in Finland, for example, followed two million children for 14 years after they received the MMR vaccine and found no evidence that the vaccination resulted in later health problems.

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The MMR vaccine take-up rate has fallen sharply since Dr Wakefield made his original claims. The rate of immunisation has fallen to 88% nationally. A rate of 95% is considered advisable to prevent a potentially deadly measles outbreak. The Department of Health is now determined to boost public confidence in the vaccine.

• Nearly half of family doctors, health visitors and practice nurses have reservations about giving children their second dose of the MMR vaccine, according to recently published research.