Major new study gives MMR clean bill of health

The largest study of the controversial MMR vaccination ever undertaken has ruled out any link to other conditions in children.

The research will be welcomed by campaigners concerned about immunisation levels and the risk of a measles outbreak.

Finnish researchers followed up three million doses of the vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella and found no link to cases of autism and serious bowel disorders.

Previous studies have suggested a possible link between MMR and the conditions although supporters claim the vast majority of research has given MMR a clean bill of health.

With MMR, children are a given a combined jab against measles, mumps and rubella at 12 to 15 months and a second booster dose at between three and five years old.

Because of the concerns, opponents of MMR, including Tory MP Julie Kirkbride, want children to be immunised separately against the three diseases.

Around 2,000 families in Britain have taken legal action claiming their children have been damaged by the MMR jab, with many believing it has triggered autism.

The Finnish research will bolster claims by health officials in the UK that the single doses are unnecessary and costly.

But another study, published today in the British Medical Journal, suggests that many health professionals in the UK are yet to be totally convinced that MMR is entirely risk free.

The survey found that nearly half of family doctors, health visitors and practice nurses have reservations about giving children their second dose of the MMR vaccination.