Challenge to raise confidence in MMR vaccine
HULL'S leading health official is calling for more parents to vaccinate their children against measles, mumps and rubella.
Dr Wendy Richardson, the city's director of public health, says although the uptake of the MMR vaccine is 90 per cent, she is hoping even more children will have the vaccine.
It comes after the General Medical Council (GMC) branded Dr Andrew Wakefield "irresponsible" and "dishonest" for conducting unnecessary invasive tests of children.
In 1998, Dr Wakefield advocated single vaccines, spaced one year apart, after publishing a paper in the respected Lancet medical journal, which suggested a link between the MMR jab and autism in children.
His claims led to widespread concerns over the safety of the MMR jab and a nationwide slump in the uptake of the vaccine.
The inquiry into Dr Wakefield's conduct, which heard 148 days of evidence over two-and-a-half years, heard his findings had been based on case studies of just eight children.
Dr Richardson said: "I know the reason that some children in the city haven't been vaccinated is not because their parents can't be bothered to take them.
"It is genuinely that they have been faced with something that is not good science.
"If you're not from that background, why would you be able to interpret one scientist who says it's good and one who says it's bad?
"I think they made an active choice because of the research and I certainly don't blame them for that. They felt they were doing the right thing."
Dr Richardson said people are wary of the vaccine.
She said: "Following some research that has now been shown to be flawed – and many people in public health have always believed it was flawed – people became very nervous of the combined MMR vaccine.
"The weight of evidence is the way we interpret research and for those of us that looked at this particular research, we didn't think the weight of evidence was there.
"The research results were then released to the media and the immediate interpretation by some parts of the population was that the MMR combined vaccine wasn't safe, which those of us with longstanding in public health have never believed."
Dr Richardson said measles, mumps and rubella can be "incredibly dangerous" to both children and adults.
She said: "One of the challenges we have had is trying to give confidence in the MMR vaccine back to people that live in the city."
Dr Richardson is aiming to get 95 per cent of children vaccinated against MMR.
She said: "Now is the time to put this behind us and support all children, and people who look after them, to make sure their child's full vaccination programme is up to date.
"The MMR vaccination is safe."
4 Comments
by dave, @ home
Friday, February 12 2010, 8:50PM
“point”
by dave, @ home
Friday, February 12 2010, 8:49PM
“obviously this is not a funny topic so people won't comment!!
people need to realise that their children are beng subjected to experiments!! read the info and get an informed pont of view!!”
by George, Hull
Friday, February 12 2010, 3:04PM
“It is hardly surprising that after years of being lied to by the government and research scientists, ordinary people no longer believe a word that they say. Again and again we eventually find out that there are vested interests behind almost all research and big business out to make a 'fast buck'.
Government wants the majority of the population to be vaccinated to give us herd immunity, and tough luck on those individuals that have a bad reaction to the vaccines or even die. And if the majority of us have our children vaccinated then the same doctors and researchers don't have to put their own children through the dangers of vaccinatiion.
Drug companies make massive profits from mass vaccinations and doctors get bonuses if a certain percentage of their patients take them up.
But on the other hand measles can be dangerous so why not let parents have individual vaccines rather than the MMR one that is causing all the disquiet?”
by dave, @ work
Friday, February 12 2010, 1:22PM
“shouldn't parents have a choice, either the mmr vaccine or the 3 injections over 3 years?? or have they bought too much of it, like the swine flu vaccine!”