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Backlash
expected over plans for more multiple jabs Plans to introduce a new range of multiple vaccines for babies, including a jab to protect against seven different diseases, could trigger a backlash from parents, two leading immunisation experts warned yesterday. In an attempt to pre-empt concerns about safety, they dismissed as a myth the idea that the immune system could be "overloaded" with too many vaccines, and said there were no grounds for MMR-style health scares. Babies are currently given two multiple vaccines - the DTP-Hib jab against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and Haemophilus influenzae B, and the MMR jab against measles, mumps and rubella. But more multiple vaccines are likely to appear over the next few years. The Department of Health is considering whether to add chicken pox to the MMR, and polio to the DTP-Hib. Other combined vaccines for diarrhoea-causing bacteria, flu and meningitis could follow. Prof Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol medical school who was involved in the trials of the meningitis C vaccine, said there was no evidence that combined vaccines were harmful. The immune system was designed to cope with many immune reactions simultaneously. "Giving mixed-up viruses together is routine and we do plan to do more," said Prof Finn. "Yet there is huge public anxiety." Immunologists argue that combined vaccines have advantages over single jabs. They involve fewer injections, less pain and fewer visits to the doctors. There is also less chance of children missing a crucial booster. However, it becomes harder to sort out side-effects and the vaccines may interfere with each other, making individual components less effective. Dr David Elliman, from the department of child health at St George's Hospital, London, said: "Currently, by the time a child goes to school, they get 36 different things as routine. "If we were to give them as single jabs, then we would be giving 36 separate injections. In fact, it is nine injections and some drops." In addition to MMR and DTP-Hib vaccines, babies are given an oral polio vaccine. Although the drops have virtually wiped out polio in the West, the vaccine can cause the disease in rare cases. A newly developed polio vaccine injection containing three strains of the virus would completely eradicate the disease. The jab is likely to be introduced within the next few years and combined with DTP-Hib to create a seven-in-one vaccine.
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