§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will detail the ways in which his Department's advice to doctors on contra-indications for immunisation against whooping cough differed in the CMO letter 17/74 from the memorandum "Immunisation Against Infectious Diseases"; what was the date of publication of that memorandum; and whether any advice was given prior to that memorandum;
(2) when the first advice on the minimum age for administering whooping-cough vaccine was issued by his Department.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe first advice was issued in 1957 when the whooping-cough vaccination programme was introduced. In 1963, after the setting up of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the first memorandum entitled "Immunisation against Infectious Disease" was issued; this was revised in 1965, 1968 and 1972. Advice on contra-indications was included in all these booklets and repeated in CMO letter 17/74. That contained in the CMO letter elaborates the advice given in the 1972 edition of the memorandum.