Opinion: New approach needed on five-in-one jab

Sometimes we are drawn to a tragic accident or become morbidly transfixed by horrifying crimes that lead us to question the safety of our neighbourhoods, such as the Soham murders two years ago.

This summer, we returned to a familiar theme: the perceived threat of child immunisation. The launch of a new five-in-one vaccine, designed to protect children with a single shot against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hib and polio, has created such a hullabaloo in the media that parents could be forgiven for thinking that, by choosing to immunise their child, they could actually harm them.

Amid the furore, three facts became clear. One: there is no evidence that the new vaccine is harmful to children. In fact, incorporating protection against polio reduces the very small risk of catching that disease from the jab. The five-in-one seems to have unanimous support from health professionals, so the Department of Health is understandably furious that irresponsible media reporting unnecessarily fuelled parents' anxiety.