Impact of a local newspaper campaign on the uptake of the measles mumps and rubella vaccine.

Data on uptake of the measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the United Kingdom are available through the COVER/Korner programme. 2 The programme measures uptake of the MMR vaccine for children resident in a district on the evaluation date who reached their second birthday during the previous quarter. Children are scheduled to receive the first MMR immunisation at 12 months of age. The latest data have demonstrated a decline of 1.4% in coverage of the MMR vaccine for children in the UK who reached their second birthday during the evaluation quarter (July to September 1998). This cohort of children were scheduled to receive MMR during a period when there was considerable national media interest in possible adverse eVects of MMR. Since July 1997 a protracted campaign against the MMR vaccine has been run by the South Wales Evening Post (SWEP), an evening newspaper sold in parts of two Health Authority areas (Morgannwg and Dyfed Powys). We report an investigation into MMR uptake in that area of distribution and compared it with uptake in the rest of Wales.