HEALTH professionals in West Surrey are urging parents to have their children immunised with the controversial MMR vaccination amid mounting fears about the safety of the jab.

Health workers say the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is perfectly safe and parents should heed the advice of the government and take their children along for the injection when called.

The latest available take-up figures for the jab in West Surrey show that only 77 per cent of children were being given the MMR jab in the quarter from October to December last year.

For children having their pre-school booster, the figure was 88 per cent.

This contrasts sharply with the government's aim of 95 per cent vaccination rates, designed to achieve the "herd immunity" necessary to prevent outbreaks of the diseases.

A spokesman for the authority said the uptake figure was "about average" for the country as a whole and reiterated the health authority's message that the jab was desirable.

"It's always a good idea if you can to get your children immunised to prevent what are usually uncomfortable childhood diseases but which can cause serious illnesses and can kill," he said.

The message comes as public confidence in the MMR jab received a further knock with the release of research findings that indicated a possible link between the measles virus, autism and bowel disease.

Research about to be published in a leading scientific journal, reveals that the measles virus had been found in the guts of autistic children who also suffer from a rare form of bowel disease.

The link was first made by Professor Andrew Wakefield in 1988 but this is the first piece of published research establishing the possibility of a link between the MMR jab, autism and bowel disease.

However government officials and local health professionals insist the vaccine is safe and are urging parents to have their children immunised to prevent a potential measles outbreak.

Current outbreaks in Streatham and Gateshead among unvaccinated children have given public health officials cause for alarm.