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| Vaccination
and Immunisation |
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| THE
TRUTH ABOUT MMR |
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| After
recent media scares about the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine,
the percentage of protected children in Wirral has dropped below
90% and continues to fall, which is of great concern to us. As the
percentage of children who are at risk from MMR increases, so too
does the chance of an outbreak of these diseases. Their effects
are normally relatively minor, but, sadly, can result in serious
complications and death. THE DISEASES Measles, mumps and rubella
(German measles) are caused by viruses. Measles is highly infectious
and causes a runny nose, red eyes, a rash, bronchitis and fever.
It is spread in droplets from the mouth and nose. Complications
are ear infection, bronchitis, pneumonia, convulsions and encephalitis
(inflammation of the brain). Mumps causes swelling of salivary glands,
fever, headache and vomiting. Complications include inflammation
of the pancreas and also of the ovaries or testicles, which can
cause infertility and effects on the nervous system. Rubella is
usually a mild condition caught by children and spread by close
contact. However, pregnant women are at serious risk. Contracting
the disease during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy causes a 90%
chance of damage to babies, with multiple defects being common.
The risk of damage falls to 10 – 20% by 16 weeks of pregnancy and
after this stage it is rare. |
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| MOTHER’S
MESSAGE: An image from the new national MMR advertising campaign.
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| VIRUS
ALERT: At one time, the effects of childhood diseases such as measles,
mumps and rubella could lead to hospitalisation. Now, parents can
choose to protect their children against them. |
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| THE
QUESTION OF SIDE EFFECTS |
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| Claims
of links between the MMR vaccine and autism or inflammatory bowel
disease have been widely reported over the past two years. However,
the Medicines Control Agency and the Department of Health state
that careful assessment of all the available research data does
not support either link. Other questions that have been asked are
why a second dose of MMR vaccine is necessary and why single vaccines
for each disease cannot be used. A second dose is needed because
each year about 21% of children remain susceptible - either because
they did not respond to, or missed out on, the first vaccination.
This is enough to risk a large outbreak every five years. There
are no health benefits from using single vaccines for each disease
rather than the combined MMR, but there are a number of disadvantages.
Firstly, single vaccines leave children vulnerable to disease for
longer. With MMR, children are protected against all three diseases
immediately after the two MMR doses. Secondly, as children would
need two doses to protect against each of the three diseases, there
is a greater risk of not completing a full course. This could result
in outbreaks of any, or all, of these diseases. |
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VACCINATION
SUCCESS
Evidence
has shown that vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella
have greatly reduced the number of cases reported. A good illustration
of this followed the introduction of the combined MMR vaccine
in 1988. High uptake of more than 93% for a number of years led
to a dramatic fall in all three conditions.
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| We
strongly support the Department of Health’s recommendation that
all children (except those excluded for medical reasons) should
have two doses of MMR, the first shortly after the first birthday
and the second before starting school. |
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Graph
showing the worrying downward trend in MMR vaccination among children
up to 24 months of age in Wirral. |
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