A MOBILE clinic offering separate vaccinations as an alternative to the controversial MMR jab is to visit York next month.

The private clinic, run by London-based paediatrician Dr Damitha Ratnasinghe, is believed to be the first of its kind in the city.

The news has been welcomed by York parents, some of whom are reluctant to have their children immunised with the measles, mumps, rubella triple vaccine after suggested links with autism and bowel disease.

But the Department of Health insists that MMR is the safest and most effective way to protect children and says there is no proven link with autism and bowel disease.

Mother-of-two Karen Martin, 35, from Skelton, York, said she was reluctant for her children to receive MMR for another reason.

Her daughter, Eleanor, six, reacted so badly to her infant injections that she had to be hospitalised for eczema. Her son, Alexander, two, who also suffers from eczema, was subsequently given the infant injections over a longer period on medical advice.

Mrs Martin believes multiple doses would still overload their systems and she was willing to pay for separate injections over a longer period. She said: "I'm not irresponsible, I want my children to be vaccinated but going though what I went through with those kids, I don't want them to have triple injections."

Dr Ebere Okereke, consultant in communicable disease control in North Yorkshire, said it was rare for such allergic reactions to occur to MMR. She said giving separate jabs would expose children to the diseases because they took longer to administer.

But Dr Ratnasinghe said: "I think that rather than leaving children exposed to these dangerous diseases because parents are worried about MMR, it's better for them to get single injections.

"There is no proven link between MMR and autism and bowel disease, but the suggestion of a link has caused a lot of anxious parents to reject MMR."

The mobile clinic has also been welcomed by York mum Mandy Brunskill, whose son, Liam, ten, is autistic. She is among parents who are suing the makers of the vaccine.

She said: "This is good news. I've spoken to so many parents who want their kids to have separate jabs, but there is nowhere to go in York."

A Department of Health spokesman said single dose vaccines for measles and mumps were unlicensed in the UK, so any doctor prescribing them accepted liability for any adverse effects.

Anyone interested in the single vaccines should contact Leigh Scully, the Northern co-ordinator for the clinic, on 0191 2895650.

A venue for the clinic has not yet been decided. The cost of the jabs course varied from £210 to £255, depending on the travel expenses of the doctor.

Updated: 11:33 Thursday, August 01, 2002