Single MMR jag demand soars despite claims

Published on Sunday 7 March 2004 00:00

DEMAND for single-vaccine alternatives to the MMR jag has risen sharply in Scotland despite the recent controversy over claims that the triple-vaccine poses a health risk.

Accusations that research linking the triple jag to health risks was "fatally flawed" has only served to further entrench public scepticism over the jag’s safety, according to doctors providing single-vaccine alternatives.

Dr Peter Copp, medical director of GP Plus, a private practice in Edinburgh and Glasgow which offers individual vaccines, says inquiries about single jags have more than doubled following the recent publicity.

He added that criticism of the lead scientist behind the health risk claims had led some parents to believe there was a "McCarthyist vendetta" against the academic.

Copp’s comments come after 10 of the 13 authors of a scientific paper published in medical magazine The Lancet in 1998 issued a partial retraction last week to the interpretation placed on their findings. It had suggested a possible link between bowel disease, autism and the MMR vaccine.

The lead researcher, Dr Andrew Wakefield, has refused to retract his findings, despite accusations that he failed to disclose an important conflict of interest, leading The Lancet’s editor to claim the research was fatally flawed.

Copp said: "Enquiries about single vaccines have more than doubled since this latest furore. Some parents, and others, are already so cynical about what the authorities say that they see it as a stitch-up.

"They think it’s a McCarthyist vendetta against Dr Wakefield. What they’re seeing is scapegoating as the anti-MMR campaign gains stature."

Copp, who personally believes the MMR vaccine is safe and effective for the vast majority of children, has been vilified for offering single vaccines.

But he said: "There are some parents who simply would not have their children immunised unless they could have the single vaccines."

Copp called on the Scottish Executive to set up regional centres where "hardcore" MMR objectors could go for single vaccines.

However, Dr John Garner, chairman of the British Medical Association’s Scottish Council, said: "As a doctor, I don’t think we should be offering something which is inferior, and single vaccines are far inferior to the MMR."