MMR

MMR vaccine – information as at June 2012

What is the vaccine for?
MMR was introduced in 1988 to protect against measles, mumps and rubella. Measles, mumps and rubella are highly infectious, common conditions that can have serious complications, including meningitis, swelling  of the brain (encephalitis) and deafness. They can also lead to complications in pregnancy that affect the unborn baby and can lead to miscarriage.

Further information about these three diseases can be found here:

Measles

Mumps

Rubella

When is it offered to children?
 The first MMR vaccine is given to children as part of the routine vaccination schedule, usually within a month of their first birthday. They'll then have a booster dose before starting school, which is usually between three and five years of age.

What was the controversy about?
 “ In the UK, the MMR vaccine was the subject of controversy after publication of a 1998 paper by Andrew Wakefield et al.  reporting a study of twelve children who had bowel symptoms along with autism or other disorders, including cases where onset was believed by the parents to be soon after administration of MMR vaccine.

 In 2010, Wakefield's research was found by the General Medical Council to have been " dishonest ", and The Lancet  fully retracted the original paper. The research was declared fraudulent in 2011 by the British Medical Journal. Several subsequent peer-reviewed studies have failed to show any association between the vaccine and autism.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the UK National Health Service and the Cochrane Library review have all concluded that there is no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

Administering the vaccines in three separate doses does not reduce the chance of adverse effects, and it increases the opportunity for infection by the two diseases not immunized against first. Health experts have criticized media reporting of the MMR-autism controversy for triggering a decline in vaccination rates. Before publication of Wakefield's findings, the inoculation rate for MMR in the UK was 92%; after publication, the rate dropped to below 80%. In 1998, there were 56 measles cases in the UK; by 2008, there were 1,348 cases, with 2 confirmed deaths.

In Japan, the MMR vaccination has been discontinued, with single vaccines being used for each disease. Rates of autism diagnosis have continued to increase, showing no correlation with the change.”

<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:0.35cm;widows:2;orphans:2">(Source: Wikipedia )

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:0.35cm;widows:2;orphans:2">Click here for a very detailed look at how Andrew Wakefield's findings were proved to be fraudulent: British Medical Journal

<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:0.35cm;widows:2;orphans:2">An excellent graphic explanation of the facts in the case of Andrew Wakefield: TallGuyWrites

What is the current NHS advice?
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:0.35cm"><span style="font-size:small;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;line-height:0.35cm;">As well as young children needing the MMR vaccine, women who are thinking about getting pregnant may also need to be vaccinated if they have low levels of rubella antibodies or they haven't had a rubella vaccination or MMR.

<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:0.35cm;"><span style="font-size:small;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;line-height:0.35cm;orphans:2;widows:2;">Also needing the vaccine are people born between 1970 and 1979 who may have only been vaccinated against measles, as well as people born between 1980 to 1990 who may not be protected against mumps.

<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:0.35cm;widows:2;orphans:2"><span style="font-size:small;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;line-height:0.35cm;">Check with your GP if you're not sure whether you've had rubella or MMR.

<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:0.35cm;widows:2;orphans:2">Full NHS Information