Measles warning after MMR decline

The three-in-one vaccine has proved controversial

Nursery school children's vulnerability to measles has risen sharply in Scotland since MMR vaccination scares in the late 1990s, a study has warned.

Health Protection Scotland looked at figures for more than one million children born between 1987 and 2004.

The research found 25 postcode districts where more than one in five nursery children was potentially at risk, compared with just three in 1998.

Parents who have delayed vaccination were urged to take up the MMR jab.

MMR was introduced across the UK in 1988 but claims in 1998 that the vaccine might be linked to autism provoked widespread alarm.

A significant outbreak could result should measles be introduced, creating further inequalities in areas of higher deprivation MMR vaccine report

Researchers looked at the vaccination records for Scotland for all children born between 1987 and 2004 and the impact of adverse publicity surrounding the injections.

The authors found that the sharpest decline began for children born from 1999 onwards, suggesting that the negative publicity had a "gradual but cumulative" effect.

More affluent sectors of the population tended to have their children vaccinated early or not at all, while parents in the most deprived areas of Scotland tended to delay vaccinating their children.

There was evidence of a slight rise in late uptake, but not enough to compensate for underlying late declines.

Rates of MMR vaccine uptake have begun to improve, but have not yet reached the levels before 1998, and are not expected to reach the levels required for population protection among young schoolchildren.

The immunisation was introduced in the UK in 1988

The recommended age for the first MMR dose is 13 months, with the second at between three and five years old.

The report did not contain the 25 postcode districts most at risk but BBC Scotland has requested the information under the Freedom of Information Act.

Report author Dr Claire Cameron said the message from the figures was that there was still time to improve protection for the entire population.

She said: "We have had a couple of small outbreaks in Dumfries and Galloway and Greater Glasgow because there are children out there who are unvaccinated, so unprotected.

"The possibility of infection also applies to mumps and rubella, but this study chose to look at measles.

Early vaccination

"We know that parents delay the decision, some take a long time to decide and some change their minds.

"We would want to see children vaccinated early at 12 months, but even after that it's not too late and I'd encourage parents to protect their children."

The study is to be published in the British Medical Journal's Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The Scottish Conservatives' health spokeswoman, Dr Nanette Milne, said that only those who could afford to pay for the single vaccine were able to choose between it and the MMR inoculation.

The government should offer an alternative to MMR, she added.