MMR vaccine

Summary

The MMR triple vaccine provides protection from measles, mumps and rubella (German measles). These diseases can have serious complications such as convulsions, temporary or permanent deafness, meningitis, brain damage and even death. However, since the introduction of the MMR vaccine in 1988, these once common diseases have become rare in the Western World.

In the United Kingdom, children are expected to receive two doses of the combined vaccine, the first at 12–15 months of age and the second between three and five years. In 1997/8 MMR vaccination coverage was at its highest level with 91% of all children being vaccinated by their second birthday. However MMR coverage is now at its lowest for over ten years with only 82% of all children being immunized with MMR in 2003, and in some areas such as London, uptake has fallen to only 72%. This is far below the current Government targets which advocate that 95% of all children should be immunized by the age of two in order to maintain herd immunity. In 2002 the UK had the first measles outbreaks for a decade (Office of National Statistics, 2004). Worldwide 890 000 children die as a result of measles each year, mainly in countries with poor immunization coverage (Owens, 2002), and as such, the reasons for falling immunization rates need to be addressed.

Non-immunization has been attributed to a number of factors including parental attitudes to immunization (such as unfamiliarity with diseases) and unsatisfactory provision of services.