MMR jab use parents 'vindicated' by findings

ISLANDERS who had their children inoculated with the controversial MMR vaccine were yesterday vindicated by experts. A 1998 study by Dr Andrew Wakefield suggested that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine could be linked to autism in children and prompted many parents to reject the three-in-one jab.

But he is now accused by England's chief medical officer of peddling poor science and failing to declare that he had a conflict of interest.

'It is very sad that a huge number of people have been worried sick by this issue, caused by dubious research and gross over-reporting,' said Dr Brian Parkin, president of the local branch of the British Medical Association.

Along with the Board of Health's immunisation advisory committee, the BMA has continued to support the combined vaccination.

It said that any risk was extremely remote, while failing to inoculate meant that children stood a higher chance of catching measles, mumps or rubella.

'It was a terribly trivial study initially and it has been given undue prominence,' said Dr Parkin.

'The reporting has been extremely superficial and inconclusive. We have been saying all along that the fuss seems to have arisen with no good scientific basis behind it and nothing has changed.

'All good quality scientific research points one way - to the safety of MMR.'

Director of public health Dr David Jeffs said that the prolonged anxiety over the vaccine had been blown up by the media and that as far as he could tell, any risk was extremely remote.

'We continue to keep the safety of all vaccines under review and feel that there is overwhelming evidence that MMR is as safe as any other licensed medicinal product,' he said.

'It is very confusing for parents to read what appears to be a disagreement among the experts, when the vast majority all say, independently, that it is as safe as anything else on the market.

'It is obviously something for the government and the General Medical Council to investigate if they want to, but in Guernsey, we have independently decided that there is a huge amount of evidence to say that it is safe.'

The GMC has been prompted into investigating Dr Wakefield's study after allegations that he was also undertaking research paid for by the Legal Aid Board to see if parents who claimed their children were damaged by MMR had a case. The paper prompted many parents to reject the three-in-one jab, even though most experts said it was safe.

'The vaccine has more research than almost any other vaccine now and it is far better researched than any of the single vaccines,' said Dr Parkin.

The association regarded the separate doses as less safe.

'I still think at the end of the day that it is probably better to have a single vaccine than remaining un-immunised, but there is no logical reason to choose the single dose over the combined MMR.'

The editor of The Lancet, which published Dr Wakefield's paper, has said that part of it was entirely flawed, because the doctor was playing a dual role.

Dr Wakefield has welcomed the council's decision to conduct an inquiry and insists that the science behind his study still stands.