Measles, MMR and Media

The latest figures out for the number of cases of measles are horrific. 1,217 cases and the year not complete, only ten years earlier, the year the MMR scare exploded into the public domain, it was a mere 56.

… story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7819874.stm ...

The numbers alone are shocking but why has this happened? Quotes from the story include:

‘Dr Mary Ramsay, an immunisation expert at the HPA, said: "… an unprecedented increase in measles … due to relatively low MMR vaccine uptake over the past decade … is concerned that we may see measles epidemics take hold … we cannot stress enough that measles is serious and in some cases it can be fatal."’

MMR uptake rates dropped significantly after Dr Andrew Wakefield, working at the London Free hospital at the time, published a paper in February 1998 suggesting their might be a link between the MMR vaccine and autism and bowel disorders. [notice the word might, this was one piece of research among many]. Shortly after in March 1998 the Medical Research Council stated there is “no evidence to indicate any link” and in April 1998 an extensive 14-year research programme following a massive 3 million children who had been given the MMR jab reported they could find “no data to support the hypothesis that it would cause pervasive development disorder or inflammatory bowel disorder.”

So why the huge scare? Why the huge drop in MMR take up that, although recovering, is still far too low to offer adequate protection? When a scare story gets all out of proportion like this the finger can only be pointed in two directions, at the Government and at the media.

Blair went around saying that the MMR vaccine was safe but refused to tell the country whether his baby had received the injection. Family privacy is one thing but if a politician is asking that every child in the country to receive an injection then it is perfectly fair to know if that politician’s child has also received it. This lack of transparency dealt a huge blow to public confidence.

But the biggest share of the blame must surely lie with the media.

There is a great lack of people with a scientific background in the media (the number of times my blood boils because I hear a journalist laugh and brag about how bad they are at Maths is something I may talk about another time) and the reporting at the time showed up exactly how badly they lack understanding when it comes to science. Whipping up a fear and scare far out of proportion with the evidence has caused great damage and the results are now coming in. How many journalists will look back and regret their role in this situation? Not many I fear. Tabloid sensationalism might be good fun when talking celebrities but when the health of our children are at stake surely more sensible heads must rule.

Over 1000 cases of measles in a single year when a simple and safe vaccine is freely available! How can you not be shocked? My children will be having the MMR vaccine when old enough and I urge all with children to do likewise. My biggest fear though is that another media fuelled scare can happen at any time. Who will know what the consequences of that scare will be ten years on from that?