Vol. 517 No. 3
198 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make arrangements for individual vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella, as is available in France, to be made available to parents who fear the side effects of a combined vaccine. [9705/00]
The combined measles, mumps and rubella – MMR – vaccine is available free of charge from general practitioners under the primary childhood immunisation scheme. There is no provision for children to receive separate measles, mumps or rubella vaccinations under the scheme. The information available to my Department is that separate measles and mumps vaccines are not available in Ireland.
With regard to an alleged link between the MMR vaccine and the development of certain conditions or disorders, my Department has reviewed the available evidence and is satisfied that the MMR vaccine is a very safe and effective one. There is no evidence to support any link between the MMR vaccine and the subsequent development either of chronic inflammatory bowel disease or of autism and recently published studies in the UK and Europe have further confirmed this. Neither is there evidence that giving each of the component vaccines separately has any greater benefit than the combined vaccine.
I would, therefore, strongly urge all parents to ensure that their children receive the MMR vaccine, which may be given from the age of 15 months and which is available free of charge from their family doctor. This will ensure that individual children and the population generally have maximum protection against measles, mumps and rubella. The importance of children having MMR vaccination has been highlighted by the significant increase in the number of measles cases, particularly in the Dublin area, since the beginning of the year. A number of the children involved have been seriously ill and have required hospitalisation.
