§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health which strains of attenuated viruses have been used in the creation of the MMR vaccine over the past 10 years. [145130]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 15 January 2001]: Measles, mumps and rubella combination vaccines contain three attenuated viruses. Since 1992, the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccines that have been used in the national immunisation programme (MMR-11 and Priorix) have comprised the following strains: Ender' s Edmonston strain and Schwartz strain used in the preparation of the measles component; Jery1 Lynn strain used in the preparation of the mumps component, and Wistar strain used in the preparation of the rubella component.
Before 1992, some children in the United Kingdom may have received a combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine that contained the Urabe Am 9 mumps strain.
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health for what medical reasons single antigen measles and mumps vaccines are not licensed in the United Kingdom. [145131]
§ Yvette CooperThe policy for protecting children from measles, mumps and rubella is a two dose schedule of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. This is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the assessment of the safety of the vaccine by the Committee for the Safety of Medicines.
431WThis policy has been endorsed on 12 January 2001 by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Nursing and the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association.
Separate doses of single antigen vaccines given at intervals leave children vulnerable to the risk of potentially serious disease. The JCVI advises that there are no benefits from giving the single antigen vaccines compared with the combined vaccine and that a schedule of separate vaccines is less safe than the combined vaccine.
The MCA advises that the single antigen vaccines for measles and mumps currently being imported are unlicensed. Further to my replies to my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr (Ms Osborne) on 19 June 2000, Official Report, column 49W and to the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Miss Kirkbride) on 24 November 2000, Official Report, column 354W, I have now been informed by the Medicines Control Agency that there are extant licenses for measles and mumps vaccines. However there are no vaccines available for use in the United Kingdom that meet the specifications of those licenses and the vaccines that are in use are not licensed. All single antigen measles and mumps vaccines in the UK are not licensed for use in the UK.
§ Mr. SarwarTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on allowing parents to choose separate vaccinations for children against measles, mumps and rubella. [145913]
§ Yvette CooperThe policy for protecting children from measles, mumps and rubella is a two dose schedule of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. This is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the assessment of the safety of the vaccine by the Committee for the Safety of Medicines.
This policy has been endorsed on 12 January 2001 by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Nursing and the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association.
Separate doses of single antigen vaccines given at intervals leave children vulnerable to the risk of potentially serious disease. The JCVI advises that there are no benefits from giving the single antigen vaccines compared with the combined vaccine and that a schedule of separate vaccines is less safe than the combined vaccine. It is not the policy of the Department to offer this schedule.