The association warned that excluding a child simply because they are not fully vaccinated could be contrary to equal opportunities regulations. The NDNA issued advice to member nurseries following the outbreak of measles at two settings in London, the Abacus Early Learning Nursery in Streatham and the White House Preparatory School in Clapham (News, 7 February).
At time of going to press , four cases had also been detected in the Gateshead and South Tyneside area in the north of England, one confirmed case and five suspected cases of measles were being investigated at a school in Barnet, London, and two cases were suspected in Birmingham.
Uptake of the MMR vaccine in the UK has fallen since one study suggested a possible link between immunisation and autism and bowel disorders in children. The Government, however, has remained adamant that no such link exists. The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, said last week that research suggesting the measles virus was found in the guts of autistic children was 'riddled with flaws'.
The NDNA supports the Government's policy of vaccination and the World Health Organisation view that MMR is a 'highly effective vaccine which has an outstanding safety record'. But it has advised nurseries that they should make parents aware that there may be children in the nursery who have not had the MMR or other immunisations. The association will be distributing information on MMR to all its member nurseries this week.
Professor Donaldson has defended the MMR vaccine as safe and warned that switching to a single measles jab could put more children at risk. He said splitting the vaccines into individual doses would mean six separate jabs spread over a long period of time, which would leave some children unprotected and create conditions for a resurgence of not just measles but also mumps and rubella.
Professor Donaldson added, 'If we went to a single vaccination programme we would have to accept the certainty of more cases of these diseases and would be doing so on the basis of no sound scientific evidence, indeed in the face of major evidence in favour of MMR. It would be an irresponsible and unacceptable way to run a programme which is meant to be protecting children's health.'
Information on MMR is available on the websites of the Department of Health at www.doh.gov.uk/mmr.htm and of Health Promotion England Immunisation at www.immunisation.org.uk/vmmr.html
