PARENTS who prevented their children getting the MMR vaccine amid safety fears were today urged to change their minds to prevent a measles epidemic.

Dr Roberta Marshall, communicable disease expert for East Lancashire Health Authority, spoke after the Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation both declared the vaccine safe and effective.

Only about 88 per cent of East Lancashire tots now have the mumps, measles and rubella jab and she is worried the diseases could spread like wildfire when the unvaccinated children begin to congregate in larger numbers at primary school in September.

She blamed bad publicity about the jab for discouraging parents but said the latest research showed it was perfectly safe.

Some parents have claimed their toddlers have developed deafness, arthritis, diabetes, epilepsy and autism after having the triple vaccine, which was introduced in 1988.

But the Finnish health authorities also released their findings last week after monitoring side effects on children since their programme started in 1982. They found side effects were extremely rare.

Dr Marshall said: "The risk of a side effect is greatly outweighed by the risk of getting complications of the diseases.

"Measles could come back and it is not just a childhood infection. Children do die of it."

Two children died in Dublin last year after an outbreak due to low uptake of the MMR vaccine.

Other side effects of measles include ear infections, pneumonia and brain damage while complications of mumps include meningitis and brain damage.

She said parents who had a change of heart and wanted their children immunised could rejoin the vaccination programme by speaking to their doctors or health visitors.

She said: "The programme is flexible and there's no problem if parents want their children to catch up at any time."

Dr Marshall also warned parents to think carefully before having their children vaccinated with a series of single vaccines at private clinics.

She said: "The Department of Health vaccines have quality control but at a private clinic you may not know what you are getting.

"It's especially important for the mumps vaccine as there are different types and the most effective vaccine is reserved for use as part of the MMR vaccine."