Life will always be difficult for the Mulhollands

She caught rubella while pregnant, and the result is that her son Roger was born deaf and blind.

"It's very frightening. People don't seem to take seriously what sort of damage rubella can do," she told the BBC.

"All the things we thought might be going to happen with Roger - the playgroup, the birthday teas - they don't happen.

"Lots of other things happen - hospitals and various therapies - but not the everyday things people look forward to.

"I really wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."

Genuine side effects

The known and confirmed side effects of the MMR vaccine are minimal and only affect a small proportion of children.

The two-stage vaccine is started around 15 months

They include fever, a measles-like rash, swelling of the lymph glands, and mild pain in the joints.

Some parents remain cautious, however, about injecting their child with small amounts of three diseases at the same time. They are convinced that it must do some damage.

However, the government recently banned the importation of single-disease vaccines, removing one option concerned parents had been taking.

Health experts argue that taking the vaccines separately takes longer, meaning there is more chance diseases could develop.

They fear the MMR scare will lead to more and more children going without any immunisation against the three diseases, creating a pool of infection in the community.

Making the decision

Mothers at Two Moors Primary School in Exeter have had to cope with conflicting information and draw their own conclusions.

"We weren't properly informed - the newspapers were saying one thing, but I thought it was safest to get the girls vaccinated," said one.

Another opted for self-education and took her own clinical decision.

"I've read all the leaflets and thought about it a lot, and I thought the benefits outweighed the dangers," she said.

Dr Adrian Midgely - like most other GPs - seeks to reassure parents and calm their fears over the vaccine.

And he is sure that if people had a better recollection of what measles, mumps and rubella did, they might be less hesitant in seeking immunisation for their children.

"They don't remember when these diseases were around and common, and caused a great deal of misery and discomfort, and, in some cases, death. Measles kills children," he said.