WHAT DOCTORS DON’T TELL YOU - E-NEWS BROADCAST No. 66 - 22 Jan 2004

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MMR: It's safe, but then again. . .

Now let's get this straight, courtesy of the UK's Department of Health. The triple MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is perfectly safe. It does not lead to autism. There is no need, therefore, for parents to seek out the single vaccine.

So it's surprising to hear that virologist Prof Greg Atkins from Trinity College, Dublin has been awarded a government grant to develop a new MMR vaccine that does not use the three live viruses.

Prof Atkins is an ideal choice. Apart from being an eminent scientist, he also seems to handle medico-political hot potatoes pretty well. While he is adamant that the current triple vaccine is safe, and that there is no connection with autism, Prof Atkins does not rule out the possibility that it could be risky for a small group of children.

This stance may cause some embarrassment in the corridors of Trinity after Atkins's colleague Prof John O'Leary published a paper in a medical journal that reported the finding of measles at the sites of inflammation in the guts of children with autism.

Meantime, UK parents who have so far resisted the triple jab for their children may soon come under increasing pressure. The take-up of the MMR vaccine will now form part of the star-rating scheme at doctors' surgeries that determine the amount of cash the government awards the family doctor. Parents who refuse the vaccine may affect the three-star rating of their local surgery, thus jeopardizing their doctor's pay-out.

*Readers interested in the MMR debate must read our Vaccine Bible and our Special MMR Update Report. It's become essential reading for many concerned parents. So, if you would like to order a copy for yourself, click on this link to begin the process: http://www.wddty.co.uk/shop/details.asp?product=335

FLU: Time to get those kids vaccinated

Winter is upon us, so it's time for the drugs companies to make their usual seasonal push for us to have a 'flu jab. This time, though, they're targeting the kids, and those aged less than 2 years.

The UK's Department of Health recommends that only children at risk of chronic disease should have the jab, but Wyeth, the drug company, is lobbying to have the policy changed and to include all children aged under 2, irrespective of their health profile.

Wyeth points to a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine that shows the enormous success of a similar programme in the States.

We assume they won't be using as evidence a letter from Roche Pharmaceuticals to health professionals about its own flu jab Tamiflu.

Tamiflu is given to children as young as 12 months, but there may a brake on the zeal that doctors have been displaying in injecting every toddler foolish enough to stagger into the surgery.

Roche has revealed that, in laboratory tests, rats given the vaccine have been falling over dead.

The implication? Don't give the vaccine to kids under 12 months of age. Well, there's an admission of sorts, we suppose.

(Source: FDA database and British Medical Journal, 2003; 327: 1249).

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