Measles-rubella vaccine (MR) used only in one UK campaign, in November 1994

This page is research from an investigation by Brian Deer for The Sunday Times of London and the UK's Channel 4 Television into a campaign linking the MMR children's vaccine with autism. | Go to part I: The Lancet scandal | Go to part II: The Wakefield factor

This page documents a parliamentary answer, covering details of the use of the double measles-rubella vaccine - MR - for which the Andrew Wakefield team obtained ethical committee approval to investigate. Later, and without ethical approval, they switched to MMR. Curiously, in a statement, issued through the Lancet, Wakefield co-author Dr Simon Murch claimed that "Measles and rubella were singled out in the application since these conditions, but not mumps, had been linked to autism in previous isolated reports."

House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 8 Feb 2001

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) MMR, (b) MR, (c) single antigen measles, (d) single antigen rubella and (e) single antigen mumps vaccines were administered in the United Kingdom in each year since 1979.

Yvette Cooper: The information available about measles, mumps and rubella, single antigen measles and single antigen rubella vaccinations given in England from 1979 to 1998-99 is contained in the table. Measles vaccine was given to children aged 12-15 months. Rubella vaccine was given to girls at about 10-14 years. Mumps vaccine has never been a part of the United Kingdom's routine immunisation programme and data on this were not collected.

MMR vaccine was introduced into the routine UK childhood immunisation programme at age 12-15 months in 1988. MR (measles/rubella) vaccine was used only during the schools immunisation campaign of November 1994. In England, 6.6 million doses of MR vaccine were administered to children aged 5-16 years during that campaign.

A second dose of MMR vaccine was introduced into the routine programme in 1996.

Data for this vaccine, collected by the Public Health Laboratory Service, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, show uptake of 477,000 (in 1996-97), 933,000 (in 1997-98) and 455,000 (in 1998-99). These figures include doses administered both routinely and during a catch-up programme.

Matters concerning Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are for the devolved Assemblies.