Measles outbreak: MMR vaccine is vital to protect us against these potentially deadly diseases – Christine Jardine

UK Health and Security Agency has declared the current measles outbreak a national incident, with as many as half of London children not having been vaccinated before they start school

I vividly remember the upset it caused my Mum whenever there was any debate on television or radio about the MMR inoculation and the later discredited potential link to autism. “We thought we could lose you,” she used to say. “You were so ill, so listless and fevered. It’s such a dangerous infection. People forget that measles can be a killer.”

There had been no measles, mumps or rubella vaccinations when I was wee and I had no idea I had been so ill. All I remember is being taken out of bed in the middle of the night when I was five because I was crying. I was burning up and needed a doctor.

At the height of the MMR controversy, I had only recently become a mother myself and was facing the onslaught of publicity, arguments and counterarguments about its alleged dangers. While my mother’s entreaties meant we didn’t hesitate to have our daughter vaccinated, the dilemma of the time came back to me this week with the announcement that the UK Health and Security Agency has declared the current measles outbreak a national incident. Inoculation figures are, it says, “well below” what is recommended by the World Health Organisation.

After the past few years of what seems like constant controversy over Covid vaccines, have we overlooked this? Now are perhaps beginning to see the consequences. Mobile vaccination clinics will be set up in some parts of the country, particularly in London, where as many as half of the children starting school have not been vaccinated. In some cases, the objection to the vaccine is linked to ingredients derived from pork, although an alternative is available.

The main problem may still be the hangover from the controversy at the turn of the century. In February 1998, Andrew Wakefield was one of a team of researchers who published an article in the Lancet, based on a study of 12 children. Despite admitting that there was no proven link with autism, they called for further research and, at a highly publicised press conference, Wakefield made a series of controversial comments about the vaccine.

There was never any evidence or research to support the suggestion which has since been discredited. Nevertheless a wave of fear, combined perhaps with a diminishing public memory of the three conditions, discouraged many parents from vaccinating their children.

The result was that from having only 56 cases of measles in 1998, there was an epidemic in Wales in 2013 with 1,400 cases. And of course both mumps and rubella can also have serious implications for adults.

In Scotland, our vaccination rates are slightly higher than some parts of the UK. Last year 92 per cent of children had received their second dose by age six. We cannot, however, be complacent.

I understand the doubts and fears many parents may have, and that the responsibility of decisions which could affect their children all of their lives can feel enormous. At the end of the day, medical advice has always, for me, been the deciding factor.

When I heard about the figures now emerging, I couldn’t help but think of the experiences of my generation of children, and hope that we can do enough to protect the current one.

Christine Jardine is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West