- LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands
of children might be at risk of measles, mumps and rubella because two
private clinics did not follow correct immunisation procedures, says the
Department of Health.
-
- In an urgent message to all family doctors, the department
said children who had received separate jabs against the three diseases
at the two clinics should be re-immunised with the combined MMR jab.
-
- "The present estimate is that this could involve
up to 40,000 immunisations going back over a 10 year period," said
Dr David Salisbury, head of the department's immunisation and communicable
disease team.
-
- Demand for single MMR vaccines has risen following controversial
research suggesting that the combined jab might be linked to an increased
risk of autism.
-
- Despite official reassurances that the research was flawed,
some parents were so anxious, they paid private clinics to give their children
the single jabs.
-
- Salisbury said the two clinics involved, at Elstree Aerodrome
in Hertfordshire and Hillsborough Arena in Sheffield, had closed as they
were not registered with the National Care Standards Commission.
-
- The problem came to light earlier this year but at the
time it was believed that just over 1,000 children had received vaccines
that were not properly made up or administered during the second half of
2002.
-
- More information had now become available showing that
the "aberrant" immunisation practices began long before.
-
- "Our two greatest concerns are that the clinics
had not followed the correct procedures recommended by the manufacturer
for making up and administering the vaccines," Salisbury added.
-
- He said batches of vaccines were made up in advance.
"This is not normal practice and might have led to the vaccines being
less effective that normal.
-
- "This means that some children who have been vaccinated
may not be adequately protected against one or more of the diseases for
which they received the vaccine."
-
- Salisbury said the second worry was that the vaccines
could have been contaminated because of the way they were prepared.
-
- "This could have increased the risk of children
suffering bacterial infections from the immunisation or greater side effects
to the vaccines."
-
- The health department said that starting on Wednesday,
it would use advertising and the media to advise parents who had used the
two clinics to have their children properly revaccinated with the triple
MMR jab.
|
