Hospital admission rates for measles and mumps in England: historical perspective

Immunisation against measles was introduced in England and Wales in 1968,3 but its coverage was incomplete: 33% of 2-year-olds had completed primary courses in 1968, rising to 76% in 1985.4 Triple vaccine immunisation against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) was widely introduced in England from 1988.3 Routine collection of English national hospital statistics collapsed in 1985, and usable data did not become available again until 1990; but data in the Oxford record-linkage study5 continued, and the latter data show the decline in hospital admission at that time (figure).