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MMR vaccine linked to bleeding disorder

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and MMR vaccine 2001; 84:227-9

The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is linked to a bleeding disorder, called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in children, finds a study in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The disorder is caused by a shortage of platelets, the cells that give blood its "stickiness," and is characterised by bleeding under the skin. Around one in 10,000 people has the condition. In children, it is often preceded by a viral infection.

The researchers, from the Public Health Laboratory Service and the Royal Free Hospital, London, analysed records on hospital admissions for ITP. The records included all children under the age of 5 admitted within six weeks of MMR vaccination in the South East Thames and North East Thames regions between October 1991 and September 1994.

There were 28 admissions for 21 children up to the age of 2 who had been vaccinated with MMR. Of these, nine children had been admitted within six weeks; none had had ITP before. The remainder involved cases that fell outside the time period or who had been re-admitted at intervals of up to five months.

Combining data from a previously published study, the authors calculated that two out of every three cases of ITP in the six weeks after immunisation are caused by MMR. One in every 22,300 MMR vaccinations will result in admission to hospital for ITP, they say. There are as yet no data on booster dose and the risk of ITP.

The children whose illness was associated with MMR tended to have milder symptoms and spent less time in hospital than those whose ITP was not associated with the vaccine. Children who had already had ITP were at no greater risk of recurrence as a result of the vaccination, the study showed.

Contact:

Dr Elizabeth Miller, Public Health Laboratory Service, London emiller@phls.org.uk

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