§ Maria EagleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the manufacturers from which the NHS purchased the single mumps vaccine for use in the UK, and the dates when it did so; and what is the cost of a dose sufficient to immunise a child; [71314]
(2) between which dates the single mumps vaccine (a) has been available in the UK and licensed for use by the Medicines Control Agency and (b) has been available on the NHS; [71311]
(3) what percentage of immunisations against mumps in the UK on the NHS are by way of (a) the single mumps vaccine and (b) the MMR vaccine. [71310]
§ Ms JowellThe vaccines recommended in the childhood immunisation programme in England are centrally purchased and supplied to doctors free of charge. Single antigen mumps vaccine has never been recommended as part of the childhood programme and has, therefore, never been centrally purchased and supplied to doctors. Medicines Control Agency (MCA) records show that a single mumps vaccine. Mumpsvax (supplied by Pasteur Mérieux MSD), has been licensed in the United Kingdom since October 1972, when the licensing of medicines, and records, began and would have been available on prescription. The British National Formulary (September 1998) gives the price of a single-dose vial of Mumpsvax as £4.00. The administration of the vaccine would be a matter between the individual doctor and patient.
During the period 1 April 1997 to 31 March 1998 553,000 children in England received a first dose of mumps, measles and rubella vaccine. Overall, around 1 million children would have received MMR vaccine over the year, taking those who received a second dose into account. Equivalent data on mumps vaccine coverage are not collected, since it is not a recommended vaccine, but, in the same period, a total of 440 prescriptions for mumps vaccine were dispensed. It is not possible to say how many children received the mumps vaccine.
458WMumpsvax was available in the UK until recent changes were made to the manufacturing process. Last year the Department was alerted that, owing to production changes, the US mumps vaccine no longer matched the UK licence and that Pasteur Mérieux has no plans to relicense the product. The vaccine has been unavailable on the UK market since August 1998. A small amount of stock may be held by local wholesalers but the Department does not hold this information.