MMR jags for teens in mumps 'epidemic'

MORE than 100,000 young Scots are being urged to get the controversial MMR vaccine to protect themselves from an outbreak of mumps sweeping the country.

Four hundred cases of the disease have been recorded so far this year in the Greater Glasgow Health Board area, making it the worst outbreak for 20 years.

The spread of the epidemic has been linked to parents’ reluctance to allow their children to be inoculated with the controversial measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab. Up to 20% of young children have not been immunised against mumps, measles, or rubella.

Health experts say people in the 16-25 age range are also at risk and should protect themselves with an MMR jab. There are around 100,000 people in that age group in the greater Glasgow area.

Those over 25 are unlikely to be affected by the disease but those over 16 are too old ever to have received the triple jab.

In extreme cases, mumps can cause partial deafness and it has been linked to infertility in males. But critics of the MMR injection, which has been linked with autism, have challenged the authorities to allow them to choose a single jab to protect against mumps despite the fact supplies in Scotland are erratic.

In recent weeks controversy over the MMR has been re-ignited, after an alleged conflict of interest emerged surrounding the author of the 1998 study which raised doubts about the vaccine.

A spokeswoman for Greater Glasgow Health Board said that the numbers of cases had reached 325 cases which had been diagnosed by doctors and a further 88 which had been confirmed following blood tests.

In a normal year, doctors would expect to encounter "a handful" of mumps diagnoses and "one or two" cases which had been checked by a blood sample.

Mumps in young adults is regarded as more severe than the illness in very young children. It can lead to inflammation of the testicles, and has been linked with infertility in males, although the link has never been conclusively proven. In addition, mumps can lead to severe one-sided deafness and may develop into viral meningitis, the debilitating although non-fatal version of meningitis.

The Scottish Executive is due to publish the latest take-up figures for the MMR vaccine tomorrow. Although the figures are likely to show a slight rise from the previous year’s level of 88%, they are unlikely to come close to the 95% figure which is the official target.

Dr Syed Ahmed, a public health consultant for Greater Glasgow Health Board, said: "This is a very severe outbreak - it could be classed as a local epidemic. It is very worrying indeed. We have seen nothing like this since the 1980s.

"We are at the stage where there are a large number of very young children who now have no immunity to mumps and there is a severe risk that they will transmit it to older friends or relatives."

He added: "We want people who are under 25 and who have not had the MMR to contact their GP and get themselves vaccinated. There is a risk that some cases will develop into viral meningitis. While it is not the fatal form of the disease it can be very nasty."

However, other health boards have said it is as yet too early to consider following Greater Glasgow’s lead.

Lothian NHS Board said they had just two confirmed, independent, cases of the infection in the last month and Grampian NHS Board said they had heard of only one case.

A spokeswoman for Grampian said: "This year we have had very few cases and there are no plans to do anything over and above the ordinary.

"Any decision like this would depend on the circumstances. We will continue to promote and encourage the MMR vaccine for children."

Dr John Garner, the chairman of the BMA Scotland, said: "This outbreak is very alarming news. While mumps is usually not very serious, it may develop into viral meningitis is some cases. This news reinforces the view that the MMR vaccine is the way forward to try to control the disease."

But critics of the MMR vaccine last night challenged the authorities to allow parents to choose single jabs for each of the diseases rather than the controversial MMR cocktail.

At present, supplies of separate mumps vaccines - which some private clinics offer - are erratic and frequently run out. In addition, some supplies of single jabs have been withdrawn amid worries over safety.

Bill Welsh, the chairman of Action Against Autism, said: "What this proves is that they should make separate vaccines available to us so that we can have a choice.

"I find it amazing that there can be such concern over mumps, which is a pretty minor illness for most people, while an emerging epidemic of autism is being ignored. They can come up with the figures for mumps cases, while no-one will tell us how many people have been diagnosed with autism in Glasgow."

Welsh, who blames the MMR vaccine for the fact that his nine-year-old grandson has autism, added: "The answer is to make single vaccines available for all the three illnesses, measles, mumps and rubella, but no, the health police will not allow us the choice.

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman last night said: "We would encourage all parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated against known childhood diseases."

Dr Andrew Wakefield was the lead author of the controversial 1998 study, which suggested there may be a link between MMR and autism and bowel disease.

His study focused on tests carried out on 12 children who had been referred to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead for gastrointestinal problems.

But at the same time, Wakefield was paid to carry out another study to find out if parents who claim their children were damaged by the MMR vaccine had a case. Some children were involved in both studies.

The Lancet, the medical journal which published the study, has said it was not informed of these facts and that together they represented a potential conflict of interest which would have led it to reject the paper.

At the time, Wakefield suggested that parents should opt for single jabs against mumps, measles and rubella instead. His comments and the subsequent furore led to a sharp drop in the number of children vaccinated against these diseases.