North parents with doubts about the MMR vaccine remained defiant last night, despite a new poll suggesting more people now believed it was safe.
A survey released yesterday found eight out of 10 parents in Britain now thought the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination was safe and almost nine in 10 would now give it to their child.
Two years ago just seven out of 10 parents thought the jab was safe.
In the North-East MMR take-up rates have dropped to 81pc in 2002/03, 10pc lower than in 2000/01.
The shift in public opinion has been revealed days after claims about Dr Andrew Wakefield, who caused a storm when he first linked the jab to autism and bowel disorders in a report in the medical journal The Lancet in 1998.
The Lancet said last Friday it should not have published the report because, while Dr Wakefield was doing his research, he was studying evidence to support a legal action by parents claiming the MMR jab had harmed their children.
The poll, by YouGov, showed that almost two-thirds of respondents did not trust Dr Wakefield's report, with only 4pc saying they trusted it a great deal.
Dr Paul Shattock, director of the autism research unit at Sunderland University, who has a 33-year-old son with autism, last night dismissed the poll, branding it a personal attack on Dr Wakefield.
He said: "It is fair to say that the data is influenced by recent reports which are a personal attack on Dr Wakefield.
"Why do that rather than look at the science? Because that is what is important.
"I think more research needs to be carried out on the MMR because we desperately need to know the answer."
North parents also dismissed the survey results, calling for the Government to fund more research into the dangers of the MMR triple vaccine.
Kevin Cole, of Annitsford, Northumberland, who has a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Jenni, said: "If I was given the choice again I would do exactly the same and give my child a single vaccine.
"There is a doubt put there by Dr Wakefield and research has shown a possible link to autism and as long as there is a doubt I wouldn't do it.
"Until proper research is carried out I will stick to my views."
Leigh Scully, 31, of Preston Grange, North Shields brought a mobile vaccination clinic to the region 18 months ago after trying to arrange single vaccinations for her son Taylor, now two.
Mrs Scully, who runs a tanning business and has an older daughter Olivia, six, said: "If I had to make the decision again, I still would not give any child of mine the MMR. The problem is that parents just don't know what to believe any more and the longer this debate goes on, the harder it is to know what to make of it.
"I don't organise the clinic any more but I still get lots of phone calls. There are a lot of people very unsure about the MMR."
The poll showed 82pc of parents in Britain thought the MMR jab was safe, compared to 72pc in 2002.
A further 78pc of parents wanted more government-funded research into the safety of the vaccine and 64pc believe both the triple jab and separate vaccinations should be available.
Prime Minister Tony Blair this week called for an end to the controversy surrounding the vaccine, saying there was no evidence to prove any link to autism.
A spokesman for the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority said: "We would strongly urge all parents to ensure that their children receive the MMR vaccine. It has been proven as safe and effective."
High Court blow hits battle for compensation
Hundreds of parents who claim that their children have been damaged by the MMR vaccine yesterday suffered a further blow in their battle for compensation from drugs companies.
A High Court judge rejected an application for judicial review of a decision to withdraw public funding to fight test cases.
The decision to withdraw funds was taken by the Legal Services Commission and upheld by the Funding Review Committee.
The parents are now considering taking their legal campaign to the Court of Appeal. The MMR litigation has so far cost £15m and the LSC believes it would cost another £10m to bring to trial.
The judgment concerned the lead cases in a group action involving about 1,000 claimants.
Mr Justice Davis announced that the parents' application for judicial review had failed.
He said: "In my view the decision of the Funding Review Committee was proportionate. It was rational, it took into account relevant considerations, it was sufficiently reasoned and there was no procedural unfairness. Accordingly, the decision to withdraw legal aid funding from the claimants stands."
In a statement given after the ruling, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) said it withdrew funding for the MMR litigation on September 29 last year on the grounds that the litigation, which was seeking to establish a link between MMR and autism or bowel disease, did not have any reasonable prospect of success.
LSC chief executive Clare Dodgson said: "I welcome today's judgment. I was always satisfied our decision and that of the Funding Review Committee was correct.
"I have every sympathy for the parents. Their children are clearly ill and they genuinely believe the MMR vaccine caused their illnesses.
"However, I am not convinced that legal action is the best way of deciding this matter."
But the mother of two autistic children said yesterday that parents would continue to fight for justice.
Isabella Thomas, spokeswoman for Justice Awareness and Basic Support (Jabs), said: "We will fight on to the end. This doesn't stop us because we have to have justice. Parents are willing to sell their homes. Our children's lives are at stake. To watch your child in such severe pain is dreadful.
"This has major implications for anybody who tries to get justice for any medical problems or vaccinations."
Mrs Thomas, 46, from East Sussex, whose autistic sons Michael, and Terry, 10, both had the MMR vaccine, said many of the claimants involved in the court battle were members of Jabs, a support group for the carers of "vaccine damaged children".
The Journal: Today's Voice of the North
