§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the annual cost of giving individual injections in place of the MMR vaccine; what the time interval required between such1032W individual injections would be; and what estimate he has made of the vulnerability of children to particular diseases within the time gaps; [7109]
(2) how many representations he has received from (a) members of the medical profession and (b) members of the public about the policy of the NHS in providing MMR as opposed to individual injections. [7110]
§ Yvette CooperSeparate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines in place of MMR have never been recommended by the Government's independent expert advisory committees on immunisation. As a result, no estimates have been made of the cost of giving separate vaccines. Cost is not an issue in decisions over MMR immunisation.
We are not aware of any studies that have looked at the relative merits of possible time gaps between separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. The researcher who first put this suggestion forward has stated that a gap of "at least a year" should be left between each vaccine. However, there is no scientific evidence to support this suggestion.
The risk to an individual child of contracting one or more of the diseases MMR protects against as a result of having separate vaccines rather than MMR will vary in different parts of the country. The risk will increase the longer a child is left unprotected. The unborn child of a pregnant women who is not immune to rubella will also be at increased risk from disease should the pregnant woman come into contact with an unimmunised individual.
There have been several hundred representations from members of the public about MMR. It is not possible to say how many are from the medical profession. The British Medical Association and the Royal Colleges who represent members of medical positions support our policy on MMR.