Cherie Blair takes personal interest in mother's MMR claim
By Sarah Womack, Political Correspondent
(Filed: 11/12/2001)

CHERIE BLAIR has expressed a personal interest in a mother's legal fight for compensation for a son she believes was brain damaged by the MMR vaccination.

Mrs Blair's response to emails sent to her by Julie Loch from Wales has raised speculation about whether Leo Blair, now 18 months old, has received the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccination.

A Downing Street spokesman refused to comment, saying the Prime Minister's children were entitled to "complete privacy in medical matters".

But a doctor at the centre of the MMR row said the Blairs should be open about what medical route they had chosen. Peter Mansfield, a Lincolnshire GP who offers single dose injections, said: "If you expect to be some kind of role model, it is important to be transparent.

"It is prudent to be beyond reproach. I do not know what the Blairs' situation is." Mrs Blair thanked Mrs Loch for keeping her informed, and said she would be "happy to receive further information".

The Department of Health retains faith in MMR, insisting that parents have no need for concern. MMR is recommended for children at 13 months and for four-year-olds.

But with fears mounting that the vaccine could be linked to autism in young children, an increasing number of parents are having children vaccinated privately with separate jabs at a cost of almost £200.

A report by the Medical Research Council has concluded that the possibility of MMR causing autism in susceptible children cannot be ruled out on current evidence.

Mrs Loch said her youngest son began to "regress developmentally and behaviourally" when he was two years old.

He is now autistic, with chronic bowel damage which was affecting his gastrointestinal tract. She said "countless medics" had refused to accept that her son was vaccine damaged.

However, her son was among eight cases that had been selected to represented a group litigation case against the vaccine manufacturers. Pat Troop, the Government's deputy chief medical officer, said she had been advised that the single jabs were not safe.

Dr Mansfield was charged by the General Medical Council's disciplinary body with putting patients at risk and failing to conform to the recommendation of the Chief Medical Officer. The charges were subsequently dropped.

He said: "The MMR vaccine should not be administered in one dose. When three live viruses are forced alongside each other into the body, they may mutate with devastating consequences."