Giving babies vaccinations before 24 months greatly increases the risk of adverse reactions because their immune systems are not fully developed or stable. Even Merck, which manufactures the MMR vaccine, recommends a minimum age of twelve months and suggests at least fifteen months. Their datasheet (8.4.2002):

• states that “M-M-R II (Measles, Mumps and Rubella Virus Vaccine Live, MSD) is indicated for individuals twelve months of age or older”
• explains that “there is some evidence to suggest that infants who are vaccinated at less than one year of age and who are born to mothers who had natural measles may not develop sustained antibody levels when later re-vaccinated” (i.e. a measles jab given later in life may not give protection against measles)
• concludes that “the advantage of early protection must be weighed against the chance of failure to respond adequately on re-immunisation” (Ed.- currently at three years four months to five years in the UK)

Merck then restates:

• “Infants who are less than 15 months of age may fail to respond to the measles component of the vaccine”
• “The younger the infant, the lower the likelihood that protection will be provided by the vaccine”

In spite of all this the current UK Department of Health vaccination programme recommends an MMR jab at around 13 months and again between three years and four months and five years (pre-school).

Ed.- (i) Biomedical research consultant and medical ethicist Gary Null explains that vaccinations should not normally be given before a child is 15 months old because, until that time, antibodies from the mother passed through the umbilical cord provide natural protection against the usual childhood diseases.

At about 15 months, these ‘maternal’ antibodies in the bloodstream decline and the child’s own immune system should have matured sufficiently to mount its own defences. A vaccination given before this time will not only have little effect, but could compromise a child’s capacity to respond positively to an illness contracted or a vaccination given later in life.

(ii) The UK Department of Health recommends two jabs for babies aged 2-4 months: one containing vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio and meningitis B (HiB); the second against meningitis C.

(iii) In 1975, Japan set a minimum age limit of 24 months for the triple DTP jab. Cases of cot death, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and infantile convulsions virtually disappeared. When DTP jabs were reintroduced for babies as young as three months in the 1980s, the incidence of cot death in Japan increased.