The MMR minefield

• First symptoms include runny nose, sore eyes, a cough and fever.
• Around the fourth day a rash may appear – flat red or brown blotches – usually starting on the forehead and spreading downwards.
• There may be diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach pain.
• Some children shy away from light.

Campaigning parents’ organisations like Jabs (Justice, Awareness and Basic Support) claim that single component vaccines are less risky and should be offered by the NHS. It is only the combined vaccine that has been linked to autism and bowel disease.

The Government does not support single component vaccination. It believes this approach is counterproductive because the gaps between jabs put children at a higher risk of infection. In Japan, where the vaccinations are administered separately, 79 people died from measles between 1992 and 1997. Another consideration must be that it will cost the NHS a lot more money to immunise children in single doses. Cynics believe this is the real reason for their intransigence.

How do parents weigh up the risks?

Thanks to the vaccination programme we now live in a society where it is rare to have, or know of, a child who dies from a contagious illness. Those who support MMR believe that we have lost sight of how dangerous infections like measles can be.

The weight of evidence points to the MMR vaccine being safe, but in the face of these reassurances parents are still worried. So have we lost trust in the scientific and medical community? They often get it wrong and what is recommended one week can be cautioned the next.

MMR immunisation is not risk-free. Single component vaccination is not risk-free. Not having your child immunised at all may be even more chancy. It’s worth bearing in mind that currently there is no conclusive proof that MMR is unsafe, but we do know with certainty that children die each year from measles. Deciding what to do seems to be all about risk management, and hoping for the best.