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Wednesday November 18 2009

 

MMR basics

MMR: myths and truths

With so much coverage in the media, it is difficult to know what to believe about MMR.

We have put together a list of myths and truths so you can check if what you have heard is fact or fiction:

Top 10 Myths about MMR

  1. Getting protection by catching the diseases is better than having the vaccine.
  2. Giving three viruses at the same time is too much for young children's immune system.
  3. Other countries around the world give MMR as three separate vaccines.
  4. Measles, mumps and rubella are rare in the UK so you don't need to immunise kids against them.
  5. MMR causes autism and bowel disease.
  6. There was a scientific paper that showed a real link between MMR and autism and bowel disease.
  7. Giving the MMR vaccines separately reduces the risk of side effects.
  8. The vaccine was not properly tested before it was licensed.
  9. My child has already received one dose so there is no need for a second one.
  10. My son doesn't need protecting against rubella; my daughter doesn't need protecting against mumps.

Top 10 truths about MMR

  1. MMR immunisation is the safest way that parents can protect their children against measles, mumps and rubella - diseases that can be serious for babies, young children and their families.
  2. Over 500 million doses of MMR have been used in over 90 countries around the world since the early 1970s. The World Health Organization states that MMR is a highly effective vaccine with an outstanding safety record (WHO, 2001).
  3. No country in the world recommends giving MMR vaccine as three separate injections.
  4. Children who are not immunised with MMR increase the chance that others will get the diseases. Before MMR, pregnant women would catch rubella from their own children.
  5. The evidence is that MMR vaccine does not cause autism or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). There are now numerous studies that do not support a link between autism and IBD and the MMR vaccine (CSM, 1999; Gillberg and Heijbel, 1998; Taylor et al, 1999; Davis et al, 2001; DeWilde et al, 2001).
  6. The Wakefield et al study published in the Lancet in 1998 actually said 'We did not prove an association between MMR vaccine and the syndrome described' and none of the studies since have found a link.

    Berelowitz, one of the contributors to the Wakefield study, has subsequently said 'I am certainly not aware of any convincing evidence for the hypothesis of a link between MMR and autism...' (Berelowitz, 2001).
  7. Single vaccines in place of MMR put children and their families at increased and unnecessary risk. The combined vaccine is safer as it reduces the risk of children catching the diseases while they are waiting for full immunisation cover.
  8. The normal procedure for licensing was used for MMR and the vaccine was thoroughly tested before being introduced into the UK in 1988.
  9. Two doses of MMR vaccine are needed to give children the best protection before they go to school. Ninety per cent of those who did not respond to the first dose are protected by the second. Those with low antibodies after the first dose will be boosted.
  10. There are very few children who have a true contraindication to having the MMR vaccine.

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For information on MMR and other immunisations, visit www.immunisation.nhs.uk/Vaccines/MMR.

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