Number of Children having MMR vaccine is at highest level

   The  number of two year olds who have received the MMR vaccination in england is at its highest level since the jab was introduced more than 20 years ago. But at 92.2% coverage is still lower than the 94% target set by the World Health Organization(WHO). The MMR jab protects against measles, mumps and rubella. The WHO says 95% is the level that offers "herd immunity" where the whole population is protected because diseases are prevented from spreading. The data for 2012-13, issued by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, showed coverage in nine out of 10 areas in england was above 90%. It was highest in the north-west at 94.9% but lowest in London at 87.1%. The MMR vaccine is an immunization vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella also called German measles. It is a mixture of live attenuated viruses of the three diseases administered via injection. It was first developed by Maurice Hilleman while at Merck.

                         The MMR jab was introduced to the UK in the late 1980s. But a decade later vaccination rates plummeted after now discredited claims of a link between the MMR jab and autism. The HSCIC  report also looked at other childhood vaccinations. It found rates for most vaccinations were increasing. Youngsters have their second dose of the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella before they start school, usually between the ages of three and five.

                            The proportion of babies and toddlers having the first dose of the MMR jab is at its highest level since the vaccine was first introduced in 1988. The lowest recorded figure for the first dose was in 2003/04, when just 79.9 per cent of children were immunised. Research published in 1998 suggesting a link between the MMR Vaccine and autism led to a dramatic decline in the number of children being vaccinated. The study, led by Dr Andrew Wakefield, has since bee discredited by scientists around the world.

                           Today's report also showed that coverage in England was below that of other UK countries for all routine childhood vaccinations measured at one, two, and five years. Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at Public Health England, told: "Routine vaccination in childhood is vital in protecting children from a range of infectious diseases, many of which have now been consigned to History.