At the sharp end

Penny Vevers
Wednesday, March 6, 2002

What's behind all the fuss about MMR? Penny Vevers looks at the views of medical experts on both sides of the controversy 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.