AN expert last night issued an urgent appeal to North-East parents who are planning to defy Government advice over the MMR jab this weekend to think again.

Dr Vivien Hollyoak fears that with three cases of measles newly confirmed in the region, parents should act now to safeguard their children and not opt for separate injections.

She is particularly concerned that many of the children who will have the first of three separate jabs at the private Woodlands Hospital in Darlington this weekend will be immunised against rubella first, not measles.

It means the children will be potentially vulnerable to measles during the eight to ten weeks before the group conducting the immunisation sessions, Direct Health 2000, returns to Darlington.

A minority of parents are reluctant to have the MMR vaccine because of fears it could be linked to autism and inflammatory bowel disease. Government experts stress that the MMR jab is safe and effective.

Dr Hollyoak wants parents who may be worried about the triple vaccine to reconsider.

While uptake rates among under-twos is still more than 90 per cent nationwide, there is concern that a pool of unprotected children could be vulnerable to disease.

"Now is the time to knock on your GP's door and say, 'I've changed my mind, I want the MMR for my child'," said Dr Hollyoak.

The consultant, who is the regional epidemiologist at the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre for Northern and Yorkshire, said: "It is measles that is of concern in this area at the moment."

About 400 families are due to have the first of three separate measles, mumps and rubella jabs over the weekend.

Many are expected to begin the sequence of jabs by being given a rubella vaccine.

Because of the new outbreak in Gateshead, Dr Hollyoak said: "The message is, think again, even at this late stage."

The consultant warned that measles was a "highly infectious" disease spread by coughing and sneezing.

Apart from causing a fever, cough and red rash, measles can cause serious complications including pneumonia and encephalitis, which can be life-threatening.

About 20 per cent of the 1,000 families booked to have separate jabs are from the Darlington area, which means that about one-in-ten of the 1,200 children due to have the triple vaccine in Health Secretary Alan Milburn's constituency will have separate jabs.

But Debbie Cole, the mother from Annitsford, North Tyneside, who persuaded the Direct Health 2000 clinic to come to the region, remained defiant.

"Parents have put an awful lot of thought into this decision already, so no matter how many times they say it is safe, parents have made their minds up about MMR," she said.

Mrs Cole, who will be having her daughter Jennifer immunised against rubella this weekend, is not too worried about the current measles scare.

"I don't think a few weeks make much difference," she said. "It is our peace of mind about the triple vaccine that is more important."