Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2270148/Parents-face-shortage-of-mumps-vaccine.html
Parents face shortage of mumps vaccine
By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:16PM BST 08/07/2008
Parents could face a possible shortage of a mumps vaccine sometimes favoured in place of the controversial MMR jab.
The American company which makes the single mumps vaccination, Mumpsvax, has discontinued production until early next year.
The company says there is not enough demand for a single vaccination and that most people choose to take the triple MMR vaccine, for measles, mumps and rubella.
The MMR vaccine is the only one available on the NHS.
However, parents who want to give their child a single vaccination, because of claims that MMR is linked to autism, can buy them through private clinics.
Merck, which makes Mumpsvax, has suspended production twice before, although for shorter periods of time.
Martha Cox, director of Wellcare, a nationwide network of private health clinics, was told she would not receive new supplies of the Mumpsvax vaccine until next September.
"I find it quite amazing that production can just be stopped like this and we haven't been told why.
"Everyone is running low on supplies. We will be getting one more load next week and then that's it," she said.
Because Mumpsvax is not prescribed by the NHS there are no official figures for how many patients opt to use it every year.
However, a spokesman for the Department of Health said that only a small number of patients chose single vaccines instead of MMR.
The combined MMR has been controversial since it was linked to autism in the 1990s.
However, in recent years studies have proven that it is not linked to the condition.
In 2005, universities warned that teenagers should be immunised against mumps, following an outbreak of the disease among students.
Parents face shortage of mumps vaccine
By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:16PM BST 08/07/2008
Parents could face a possible shortage of a mumps vaccine sometimes favoured in place of the controversial MMR jab.
The American company which makes the single mumps vaccination, Mumpsvax, has discontinued production until early next year.
The company says there is not enough demand for a single vaccination and that most people choose to take the triple MMR vaccine, for measles, mumps and rubella.
The MMR vaccine is the only one available on the NHS.
However, parents who want to give their child a single vaccination, because of claims that MMR is linked to autism, can buy them through private clinics.
Merck, which makes Mumpsvax, has suspended production twice before, although for shorter periods of time.
Martha Cox, director of Wellcare, a nationwide network of private health clinics, was told she would not receive new supplies of the Mumpsvax vaccine until next September.
"I find it quite amazing that production can just be stopped like this and we haven't been told why.
"Everyone is running low on supplies. We will be getting one more load next week and then that's it," she said.
Because Mumpsvax is not prescribed by the NHS there are no official figures for how many patients opt to use it every year.
However, a spokesman for the Department of Health said that only a small number of patients chose single vaccines instead of MMR.
The combined MMR has been controversial since it was linked to autism in the 1990s.
However, in recent years studies have proven that it is not linked to the condition.
In 2005, universities warned that teenagers should be immunised against mumps, following an outbreak of the disease among students.