David Baxter
Immunisation is a key public health intervention with protection from direct and/or indirect (herd) immunity: this is directly related to vaccine uptake rates, and anything therefore that interferes with uptake, including opposition to vaccination by individuals, has potentially serious consequences for the control of specific vaccine preventable infections (VPIs). The UK has a history of opposition by minority groups to smallpox, whooping cough and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination, which this paper will review, as it is believed that an understanding of their causes has implications for any VPI disease control through current and future universal immunisation programmes.