Tests for double MMR dose boy

Uptake of the MMR vaccine is at an all time low

A little boy, who was accidentally given a double dose of the MMR vaccine, is being tested for suspected autism.

The unnamed five-year-old was given the second jab in January after moving house from Kendal, Cumbria, to another town in south Lakeland.

His new GP said there was no record of him having received the vaccine.

Only days after being given the jab a second time, health officials rang his mother to tell her he had been given a double dose.

His mother, who did not want to be identified said he had been "a little boy without a care in the world", but underwent a "dramatic" change in his behaviour after the second jab.

Violent behaviour

Her son is now undergoing further tests to determine if he has developed the condition.

His mother told the Westmorland Gazette in Cumbria: "He has tantrums and is violent when he doesn't understand something and can't cope with groups of people.

"We are convinced that it is autism and so is the rest of the family."

His great-grandmother added: "Before having the double dose he was a little boy without a care in the world.

"I don't care what anyone says, this mistake has ruined the boy's life."

His parents are also reconsidering whether or not to give their other children an MMR booster to protect against measles, mumps and rubella.

No evidence

Dr Frank Atherton, director of public health for Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust, said there was no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

He said: "If a child was given a vaccine at the wrong time or an extra dose of a vaccine, then that child suffers a bit of harm which was unnecessary."

But he added: "There's no evidence for MMR or any vaccine that getting an extra dose leads to longer-term damage.

"The political line is one that, as a public health expert, I strongly believe, that there is no link between MMR and autism."

Dr Atherton said there were safeguards in place to prevent children being given double doses of vaccines but admitted was always potential for occasional errors in a "complicated system".