Immunisations

There has been a lot of media hype recently about the risks and value of immunisations, particularly the MMR vaccine. We aim to provide easy access to information here which will allow parents to make an informed, educated choice rather than having to rely on heresay.

The standard immunisation protocol for children in the UK is as follows:

MMR

It is worth remembering in the presence of so much media attention about tenuous links with autism that measles is a disease with some potentially extremely serious consequences, inluding death.

All of the media attention has focussed around the research of one team, led by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, at the Royal Free Hospital in London. These studies have generally been of poor quality (i.e. small numbers, retrospective - i.e. looking at past events) and are of dubious statistical significance. Other strategies employed by this team have included large prepublication pubicity campaigns (i.e. selling the story to the press before the medical / scientific community has had a chance to verify the information).

Other larger, better organised studies by independent research groups around the world have been unable to reproduce any of his findings and conclude that there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

See below for further details.

• MMR vaccine: the continuing saga. BMJ 2001;322:183-184 (27 January). Elliman D, Bedford H. BMJ editorial looking at a paper published last year by Wakefield's team. Conclusions: "..Understandably some parents and health professionals are confused and anxious and, in an effort to protect their children against measles, have sought single antigen vaccines. We have reviewed the latest developments in this saga and are convinced that such confusion and anxiety about MMR vaccine are unfounded."
  http://bmj.com/cgi/reprint/322/7280/183.pdf (Needs Adobe Acrobat Reader).

• Mumps, measles, and rubella vaccine and the incidence of autism recorded by general practitioners: a time trend analysis. BMJ 2001;322:460-463 ( 24 February ). Kaye JA, Melero-Montes M, Jick H. An analysis of the change in the numbers of new cases of autism reported in the UK, compared with the coverage of the MMR vaccine over the same time period. Conclusion: "...the data provide evidence that no correlation exists between the prevalence of MMR vaccination and the rapid increase in the risk of autism over time."
  

• Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Report From the New Challenges in Childhood Immunizations Conference Convened in Oak Brook, Illinois, June 12-13, 2000. Pediatrics 2001;107(5). Halsey, Neal A.; Hyman, Susan L. The writers of this report reviewed over 1,000 references in the medical literature and determined that the available research does not support the hypothesis that MMR vaccine causes autism, autism spectrum disorders or inflammatory bowel disease. A complete copy of this report is available in the online version of Pediatrics at http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/107/5/e84.
  

• Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee Rejects Causal Relationship Between Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autism Spectrum Disorder
  At a public briefing on April 23, 2001 the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Committee on Immunization Safety Review released a report in which they conclude that the evidence favours rejection of a causal relationship between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism spectrum disorder, commonly known as autism. The full text of the report is available at www.iom.edu/imsafety.
  

• Evidence shows genetics, not MMR vaccine, determines autism (AAP News December 1999) by Charles G. Prober, MD, FAAP.
  

• No evidence for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine-associated inflammatory bowel disease or autism in a 14-year prospective study. (Lancet 1998;351:1327-8) (5-02-98) This Finnish study shows details of the 31 children who developed gastrointestinal symptoms after approximately three million were vaccinated. Dr. Peltola et al, after more than 10 years following adverse events associated with MMR vaccine, found no data showing an association between MMR vaccine and developmental disorders or inflammatory bowel disease.
  

• No evidence to support an association between measles, measles vaccination and Crohn's disease - three letters in June 6 1998 British Medical Journal.

• The risk of seizures after receipt of whole-cell pertussis or measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. N Engl J Med. 2001 Aug 30;345(9):656-61. Barlow WE et al.
  No long-term adverse consequences were found from febrile seizures following administration of DTP and MMR vaccines. Click here for link.

Further useful links: