A PRIVATE clinic in London that offers separate injections for measles, mumps and rubella vaccines is being inundated with telephone calls, such is the level of parental anxiety about the combined MMR vaccine.

In the past 12 months, demand has grown to such an extent that Health Direct now runs "outreach clinics" in other cities. Many parents who cannot get through on the telephone make bookings using the clinic's website.

Around the world, claims of a link between MMR, autism and bowel disease have led to a gathering loss of confidence in the combined vaccine, despite the repeated insistence of the Department of Health in Britain that "numerous studies have shown MMR to be the safest and most effective way of protecting children against dangerous diseases".

A recent outbreak of measles in Streatham, south London, where there are three confirmed cases and about 20 suspected cases, has added to the confusion. But already, more than 1,000 parents plan to sue the Department of Health, alleging that the MMR vaccine has damaged their children.

According to Kathryn Durnford, a spokesman for Health Direct, more than 15,000 children have been given a course of single jabs in the past 12 months. "We are now getting as many as 800 calls a day. These are intelligent parents, who feel that the present government policy of offering only the combined vaccination on the NHS does not give them a choice."

Julie Sheen, who yesterday attended the main Health Direct clinic in Eltham, south-east London, with her 13-month-old daughter, Molly, is among them. "I am as concerned as any parent and, of course, I want to protect my baby against major childhood infections, but I am determined to have the choice of single vaccines. I think that three vaccines might be too much for a baby's immune system to cope with. If there is even a remote chance that MMR is risky, I do not want to be dragooned into having it given to Molly."

Health Direct charges £60 for each injection in London - £180 for a course of three. If children have already had the MMR combined vaccine but the parents do not want them to have the pre-school booster, the clinic may advise an antibody test to check levels of protection (which costs up to £70).

Most of those attending the clinic think the fees are reasonable. "I think single vaccinations should be available on the NHS," Julie says, "but I am prepared to pay."

Health Direct, which also offers a range of GP services, was established three and a half years ago by Sarah Dean, a former theatre sister and practice nurse. The jabs are given by nurses, but GPs write the prescriptions and are on hand at all times. In the outreach clinics, the fee per injection is £80, reflecting the extra cost of organising sessions - an outreach clinic is arranged only when 150 children have been booked in for an appointment.

Some private doctors offer separate jabs but their fees are likely to be considerably higher. A year ago, Lizzie Cordey, a producer with BBC Bristol, took her 21-month-old son, Jonjo, to a private paediatrician in London, who charged £400. "It was a small price to pay," she says. "My little boy is the most precious thing. Having the option has been very important to me."

Jabs, the organisation set up to give support to the parents of children with alleged vaccine damage, provides on its website the names of doctors who offer separate vaccines.

The usual sequence for separate jabs, which are given over two months, is to have the rubella jab first. This is to comply with a requirement of the Medicines Control Agency that single measles and mumps vaccines, which are unlicensed for such use in this country, can only be given if the child has already started on a course of single vaccines. For years, rubella has been licensed for use on its own; because measles and mumps single vaccines remain unlicensed, they have to be given only on a named basis.

"Ideally, we would like to give the measles vaccine first, as this is the most serious disease," Durnford says. "But if we have a child who is unprotected and about to start school or go into a nursery, the responsible thing is to give the measles shot first, and we do this. We feel this is a responsible approach. If a child is what is called officially `medically indicated' - that is, they already have an immune deficiency disorder, or have autism or bowel disease in the family - we also give the measles vaccine first."

Not all of the doctors who prescribe separate vaccines believe that the combined vaccine poses any risk. Lizzie Cordey's paediatrician in London was very frank, she says. "He told me he had given MMR to his three children. He even told me he is strongly in favour of mass vaccination and pointed out that Jonjo might still be vulnerable to the diseases if he had single-shot vaccines, because of the spacing between them."

He did understand her reservations and believed that choice was important. There was autism in her family and eczema and asthma. Jonjo was not affected by the allergies, but Lizzie had read that children with a family history might be more vulnerable to bad reactions to MMR.

However, government policy shows no signs of changing. The chance of single measles and mumps vaccines being relicensed is extremely small. Public health experts and vaccination advisers insist that single shots give less protection and the spacing allows too much time for infection.

Against that, Durnford points out that MMR gives 90 per cent protection and that children vaccinated once at 15 months then require a pre-school booster. "Each single vaccine is more than 98 per cent effective and no booster shots are necessary."

The Government is finding it difficult to restore faith in MMR. Yesterday, health officials were on the defensive. "The present outbreak of measles is not an epidemic, as some in the media suggest," a spokesman said. "Each year, about 100 children have measles and this past year has been no different."

While uptake of MMR has fallen, on average, to 84 per cent and is much lower in some places, the department insists: "Seventeen out of 20 parents still choose to have MMR. If parents have any anxieties, they should talk to their GPs. They have all the up-to-date information." There is even, says the department, an indication of an increase in uptake to about 86 per cent.

·  Direct Health 2000: 020 8859 1511; www.dh2.co.uk

·  Jabs: 01942 713565; www.jabs.org.uk