Measles outbreak: poll finds most think MMR is safe
Lawrence McGinty
Former Science and Medical Editor
It's estimated that 50,000 teenagers in Wales alone weren't vaccinated because of the scare stories when they were babies, and that really emphasises the finding in our poll - 71% of people think that parents are acting irresponsibly if they don't get the MMR jab for their children.
We actually took it a stage further in the survey, and asked another question, whether un-vaccinated children should be banned from state schools. About 40% said yes, just over 40% said no. We put this finding to the Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, Dr David Walker:
Separate to the MMR debate, three new vaccination programmes have been announced today by the Department of Health in England. There'll be a flu jab, a nasal spray, for babies aged two (currently they're only immunised if they're in a high-risk group).
Secondly, there'll be a vaccine for elderly people over 70 against shingles. This is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox in children but it can be very severe in elderly people, leading to years of pain.
And, there'll be a vaccination against something called rotavirus, which most people haven't heard of, but can cause severe diarrhoea in children.