No choice but MMR as supplies of single mumps vaccine run out

Parents worried about the MMR jab could soon have no alternative but to give it to their babies because supplies of the single injection vaccine for mumps are running out.

Clinics say stocks are running low and they have been told they will not receive new supplies for up to 12 months after the world's only manufacturer - American pharmaceutical giant Merck - halted production.

Mumpsvax is used to vaccinate children whose parents opt out of the triple measles, mumps and rubella jab which was once suspected of links to autism and bowel disease.

Yesterday suppliers confirmed the shortage of Mumpsvax was worrying some parents who still do not trust MMR.

Pharmacist Barry Mickle, of London-based medical supplier Jolinda, said his company had run out of Mumpsvax a month ago.

He added: 'My understanding is that Merck is not manufacturing Mumpsvax at the moment until 2009, so it could be a year before UK clinics will have any.'

Single vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella were free on the NHS until 1997, but are now only available through registered providers at a combined cost of around £400.

While mumps - a viral infection - is relatively harmless in childhood, some babies can contract mumps meningitis. It can also cause sterility and infertility in adults.

Merck is also the world's largest supplier of the MMR triple jab which was linked to autism by Dr Andrew Wakefield a decade ago.

His claims, which have since been discredited, caused a dramatic drop in immunisations.

Merck has stopped making Mumpsvax twice before, but never for more than three months.

A Department of Health spokesman said: 'Merck is a private company and any commercial-decisions it makes are entirely separate from the work of the Government.'

She added: 'MMR is the safest and most effective way of protecting children from measles, mumps and rubella.'

Professor David Salisbury, the Government's director of immunisation, said: 'All available evidence points to the safety of MMR - it does not cause autism, bowel disease or any of the other scare stories that have circulated over recent years, and nor does it overload children's immune systems.'

Department of Health figures show that 83 per cent of parents immunised their children with the MMR jab in 2006.

The number of measles cases in England and Wales hit 971 last year, the highest since its incidence began being recorded in 1995.

Experts say at least 95 per cent of children need to have MMR to create a 'herd immunity' that stops measles spreading.

The Government has refused to make single measles vaccines available as an alternative for worried parents.