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March 15, 2002

"Public Less Worried About MMR Vaccine Than Many Other Issues" British Medical Journal (www.bmj.com) (03/16/02) Vol. 324, P. 630; Jackson, Trevor

New research by the market research group MORI indicates that people in Britain are more concerned about the dangers of biological weapons, genetic modification of animals and food, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, transplants of organs from animals to humans, gene therapy, and the potential health risks of mobile-phone use than they are about the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.  Despite many reports in the media concerning public worry about the vaccine, the research indicates that about 75 percent of the 1,001 respondents expressed concern about biological weapons, compared to 37 percent for the MMR vaccine.  Only stem cell research came in lower than MMR, with 28 percent of the respondents expressing concern.  According to the study, 33 percent of people without children expressed worry about the vaccine, while 45 percent with a child under 16 and 46 percent with two children under 16 indicated worry about the MMR vaccine. The Royal Society commissioned the study.

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