§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies have been(a) undertaken by his Department and (b) carried out by non departmental public bodies responsible to his Department in the past year on potential health hazards of the use of the MMR vaccine. [63935]
484W
§ Ms BlearsThe Department has not undertaken any research itself, but has funded both the public health laboratory service (PHLS) and national institute for biological standards and control (NIBSC) to undertake research studies on safety issues of the combined, measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
NIBSC recently completed a study to compare the sensitivities of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods used in a number of international laboratories. This study was designed to compare the sensitivities of assays used by NIBSC and others in order to validate their abilities to detect measles ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the tissues of children with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and autism. This work has recently been submitted for publication.
The Department has also provided further funding to extend this work. The new study will bring together a number of clinical units who are providing tissue samples from patients diagnosed with IBD and autistic spectrum diseases. These samples will be tested for measles RNA at NI BSC and will also be sent to different laboratories to compare the sensitivities of the methods used. The results from this study will he published as soon as they are completed.
With Departmental funding, the PHLS have carried out a study that looked for evidence of associations between MMR vaccination, bowel problems and developmental regression in children with autism. They used a data linkage system, established by PHLS, which links clinical notes with independant computerised vaccination records in the former Thames regions. The results have been published in peer reviewed scientific journals (Taylor B, Miller E et al (2002) Measles, mumps and rubella vaccination and bowel problems or developmental regression in children with autism: population study BMJ, 324 393–396). The research group has also looked at a number of other putative adverse events after MMR vaccine using this linkage system: gait disturbance, invasive bacterial infection, aseptic meningitis and purpura.
§ Miss KirkbrideTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if the MRC will conduct an epidemiological comparison survey one year after the vaccines were administered between (a) children who have had a single antigen vaccine or none at all and (b) with children who have had the MMR vaccine; [66752]
(2) If the MRC will commission a study of children whose parents claim they have been damaged by the MMR vaccine in an attempt to replicate the findings by Dr Wakefield. [66753]
§ Ms BlearsThe Medical Research Council (MRC) does not, as a rule, commission research but welcomes high quality applications for support in any scientific area which will further our understanding of autism and especially those areas which were highlighted in the recent MRC review of autism.
Applications are judged in open competition with other demands on funding. Awards are made according to their scientific quality and importance to human health.
485WAll research on MMR is reviewed by the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, the Government's independent expert committee.