Sir, - In light of the current media coverage of the MMR Vaccine Programme, some of which has been unbalanced and detrimental, an update on the facts available to the National Immunisation Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland might alleviate some of the concerns expressed in a number of articles and opinions in the past number of weeks. There are three aims of all immunisation programmes: (a) t protect the individual; (b) to produce community immunity (i.e., if sufficient numbers of children are immunised, the virus or bacteria cannot spread, so those who are unprotected will not be exposed to infection, including those children who cannot receive vaccines, e.g. leukaemic children); (c)To eradicate the disease - this has happened with smallpox and is likely to happen with polio in a few years.
Recent claims by Dr Wakefield, published in your paper, deserve comment. The claims that there was insufficient research carried out before the MMR vaccine was promoted in the UK ignores the following: combined MMR vaccines have been extensively evaluated in Scandinavia and the United States before they were introduced into the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1988. Now the MMR vaccine is successfully used in over 30 European countries, as well as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the above publications in 1988, a further 30 articles on combined MMR vaccine studies have been published, with follow up extending up to 10 years in some cases. The safety of combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccines has been reviewed repeatedly by UK Government independent expert scientific advisory committees, including the Committee on Safety in Medicine and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Here in Ireland a similar review has been undertaken by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the Irish Medicine Board. These findings have been endorsed by the Irish College of General Practitioners. The MMR vaccine is also endorsed by the World Health Organisation, and the Centre for Disease Control in the United States. All have concluded that the evidence does not support any association between the MMR vaccine and inflammation of the bowel or autism. Publications supporting the current status of the MMR vaccine and its safety are available from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Physicians' of Ireland. The potential for harm from infectious diseases like measles, mumps and rubella is significant. Immunisation with the MMR vaccine is the most effective means of preventing serious disease, and occasional fatal disease, where children should expect no less. - Yours, etc.,
Prof J.A. Brian Keogh, MD, FRCPI, FRCP (Edin), FACP, Chairman, National Immunisation Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2