At the sharp end

Prime minister Tony Blair's refusal to disclose whether his son Leo had had the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination, on the grounds of family privacy, only served to fuel other parents' worries and incur media wrath. Suddenly, from an apparently isolated stance opposing MMR for its links suggested by research to bowel disease and autism, the vaccine's critics found their fears given more credence.

Then last month, reports of suspected and confirmed measles cases around the country, in north and south London, Birmingham and Gateshead on Tyneside, made MMRa national issue.

The Department of Health insisted that the doubt had been cast on the vaccine by 'largely one source', and warned that the potential damage from having any of the three diseases was much greater than the risks being suggested. It reiterated that MMR had been given for nearly 30 years in the US and is 'considered very safe'. Around the world more than 90 countries have given more than 500 million doses of the MMR vaccine with, in the words of the World Health Organisation, 'an outstanding safety record'.