§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the(a) incidence and (b) prevalence of Crohn's disease, broken down into age bands, for each of the last 10 years for which data are available; and if he will make a statement. [21270]
§ Mr. SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the numbers of yellow card reports regarding Crohn's disease in childhood associated with the use of measles vaccine for each of the last five years for which figures are available; what assessment the Medicines Control Agency has made of such data; and if he will make a statement; [21269]
(2) what assessment the Medicines Control Agency and the Committee on Safety of Medicines have made of the association between the use of measles vaccines and the incidence of Crohn's disease; and if he will make a statement. [21165]
§ Mr. MaloneFrom 1 January 1992 to 31 December 1996, three reports from the United Kingdom of Crohn's disease as a suspected adverse reaction to vaccines containing the measles component were sent to the Committee on Safety of Medicines.
A report of a suspected adverse drug reaction does not necessarily mean that it was caused by the vaccine.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State gave on 17 January 1996 at columns 593–94. Together with the Department, the Medicines Control Agency has reviewed all the available evidence and considers that a convincing link between immunisation and Crohn's disease has not been demonstrated.