§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has received regarding the numbers of children in Wales who have been reported as possibly suffering physical or psychological trauma as a result of immunisation against measles. [40657]
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§ Mr. RichardsBy October 1995 the Medicines Control Agency received 56 physical and two psychological reports concerning children in Wales who received measles and rubella vaccine during the November 1994 measles and rubella (MR) immunisation campaign.
Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced in 1988. Since 1 January 1988, to date, there have been 34 reports of adverse reactions to MMR vaccine all of which were physical.
The number of children immunised during the MR campaign was larger than the number immunised so far with MMR. The same measles antigen is used in both the MR and MMR vaccine. The increase in reports of adverse reactions could be attributed to circumstances of a mass campaign.
The receipt of a reaction report by the Medicines Control Agency does not necessarily mean that the reaction reported has been caused by the vaccine.
§ Mr. SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many copies of the leaflet on measles have been distributed by Health Promotion Wales on behalf of his Department in the past year. [40665]
§ Mr. RichardsNone, but 550,000 bilingual—English and Welsh—leaflets were distributed by Health Promotion Authority for Wales to health authorities and schools during September 1994. In addition, translation packs in 10 ethnic minority languages were made available to health authorities for local distribution.