Understanding the MMR vaccine
The have been several health scares in the UK in the past two decades, but almost none more controversial than the row surrounding the MMR vaccine. Introduced in the UK in 1988, the MMR vaccine provides immunisation against measles, mumps and rubella (also known as German measles) in one jab. Medical evidence shows that 99 per cent of people who receive the injection develop immunisation against all three diseases. However, the 1998 media furore over a controversial study that appeared to show links between autism and the MMR vaccine has caused much confusion over the benefits of the jab, and the fallout is still being discussed today.
In 1998, a study in historic British medical journal The Lancet reported on 12 children who had received the MMR vaccine and also had symptoms of autism and inflammatory bowel disease. While the authors of the paper suggested that the links between the jabs, autism and bowel disease were real, it also stated that there was no proven link between them. However, some newspapers reported the link as fact and the surrounding media attention led to a subsequent sharp drop in MMR vaccination rates in the UK and Ireland. This in turn led to increased instances of measles and mumps, with fatal consequences in a few cases.
Today, the findings of the paper have been largely discredited. Andrew Wakefield, the lead author of the report, was found to have manipulated evidence and have hidden conflicts of interest in an investigation by a Sunday Times journalist. As recently as 2010, Wakefield was struck off the medical register and his research on MMR was declared by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) as fraudulent in 2011.
However, despite widespread acceptance that the 1998 MMR vaccine scare was misguided, recent statistics suggest that many children in the UK remain unvaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella. Figures revealed in May 2011 showed that there were 330 cases of measles reported in England and Wales from January to March of the same year - nearly as many as were declared in the whole of 2010. The numbers have led to repeated reminders from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) of the benefits of MMR immunisation.
The process of MMR immunisation is two-tier. Children are given their first injection at 13 months old, while a second dose is given to children between the ages of three and five years if they have not responded to the initial vaccine. However, if you have a baby that has been exposed to someone with measles, they can have the MMR jab early from the age of six months. It is also possible to have the vaccine at an older age, and many school leavers and young people entering higher education are given the chance to have the MMR vaccine. This step may prove to be particularly important in the current outbreak, as the rising number of cases in England and Wales have been primarily reported in schools and universities and show that under-25s are the worst affected.
In 1998, a study in historic British medical journal The Lancet reported on 12 children who had received the MMR vaccine and also had symptoms of autism and inflammatory bowel disease. While the authors of the paper suggested that the links between the jabs, autism and bowel disease were real, it also stated that there was no proven link between them. However, some newspapers reported the link as fact and the surrounding media attention led to a subsequent sharp drop in MMR vaccination rates in the UK and Ireland. This in turn led to increased instances of measles and mumps, with fatal consequences in a few cases.
Today, the findings of the paper have been largely discredited. Andrew Wakefield, the lead author of the report, was found to have manipulated evidence and have hidden conflicts of interest in an investigation by a Sunday Times journalist. As recently as 2010, Wakefield was struck off the medical register and his research on MMR was declared by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) as fraudulent in 2011.
However, despite widespread acceptance that the 1998 MMR vaccine scare was misguided, recent statistics suggest that many children in the UK remain unvaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella. Figures revealed in May 2011 showed that there were 330 cases of measles reported in England and Wales from January to March of the same year - nearly as many as were declared in the whole of 2010. The numbers have led to repeated reminders from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) of the benefits of MMR immunisation.
The process of MMR immunisation is two-tier. Children are given their first injection at 13 months old, while a second dose is given to children between the ages of three and five years if they have not responded to the initial vaccine. However, if you have a baby that has been exposed to someone with measles, they can have the MMR jab early from the age of six months. It is also possible to have the vaccine at an older age, and many school leavers and young people entering higher education are given the chance to have the MMR vaccine. This step may prove to be particularly important in the current outbreak, as the rising number of cases in England and Wales have been primarily reported in schools and universities and show that under-25s are the worst affected.
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