Mother tells why she refused MMR

A woman whose child may have been the first to get measles in the Brixton outbreak, explained today why she had not had her son vaccinated.

Fiona Mackenzie, a 41-year-old former commercial artist, said her four-year-old son Callum, a pupil at Sudbourne Primary School in Brixton, was not vaccinated because she fell out with her doctor after he insisted he wanted to give the MMR jab to Callum's older sister Sara, now seven.

Sara was given several immunisation jabs when she was younger, but became ill with rubella and developed asthma as well as pneumonia. After that experience, Ms Mackenzie decided not to inoculate her son at all.

She said: "The doctors are so stuck in their ways. As Sara had had rubella, I believed she really didn't need a jab against it so I asked for the single jabs for mumps and measles but the doctor wouldn't listen to me. He insisted she be given the MMR jab so I became very distrustful and didn't want Callum to be immunised."

She treated her son's illness with aromatherapy techniques burning eucalyptus oil which is said to be effective against secondary infections.

"I first noticed Callum was feeling sick on Saturday, 12 January - he seemed very lethargic and had a really high temperature. I looked at his chest and it was covered in spots.

"The temperature went down a bit and the spots seemed to be fading, but the next day both were back again with a vengeance. He had a fever for at least three days."

By the Tuesday the symptoms seemed to be improving so she decided not to go to the doctor and her son appeared fit enough to return to nursery school two days later.

Ms Mackenzie added: "If I'd have known that there was measles around I wouldn't have let him back to school so quickly and I would have gone to the doctor. I really think doctors should offer both single jabs and MMR."

In contrast, Nicesaer Warren, a 23-year-old mum of two and part-time youth worker, had made sure her daughter Lavale, 5, was given the MMR jab. But on Sunday 20 January Lavale - who is also a pupil at Sudbourne Primary School - contracted what her doctor believes was measles.

Ms Warren said: "She was complaining of a stomach ache and I gave her some Calpol to treat that. The next day I took her to school and she said she had a headache. I told her to tell her teacher if that carried on, and that I would come and pick her up immediately.

"I didn't hear anything so I thought everything must be fine but when I picked her up in the afternoon she was covered in this rash especially on her neck and face."

She took her daughter straight to the doctor and measles was diagnosed. Ms Warren was also told to keep her daughter off school for up to 10 days. Ms Warren continued: "When I had Lavale immunised at the age of one or two, the way they made it sound, I thought it was essential.

"But with my youngest daughter there was a scare about jabs at the time so I didn't get her immunised. As soon as I heard about these recent cases of measles, however, I took her straight to the doctor to get the jab."

A couple of days ago the school was phoned asking for Lavale to be tested for measles. A testing packet was sent to the school and a swab was taken with her mother's permission. The result is still pending.

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