A YORK mother believes the MMR vaccine could be to blame for her teenage daughter's serious medical problems.

Sian Davies, of Windsor Drive, Wigginton, needed her large bowel removed at the age of 17 after she developed ulcerative colitis, or inflammation of the colon.

The condition left Sian, now 19, in agony, and caused her to lose two-and-a-half stone in weight in two weeks.

Now her mother, Pam, believes Sian's illness could have been caused by a double measles vaccination.

Sian, who works as a learning support assistant at Joseph Rowntree School, in York, had a single measles jab when she was a baby, but at 11 she was given the MMR vaccine at school.

Four years later, Sian started suffering from severe pains and constant diarrhoea. The problem became so bad she was forced to have her bowel removed and had to use a colostomy bag until surgeons created a new bowel using her intestines.

Pam said she never connected the vaccine and Sian's problems until she read Dr Andrew Wakefield's controversial report which linked the jab with autism and bowel problems in children.

"These last 18 months have been very traumatic. Sian must have gone into hospital six times in agony. I'd wake up every morning wondering if she was okay. But it's made her more determined."

Sian is a keen member of the Rowntree Players and is starring in this year's production of Dick Whittington. She's also a youth worker at the Young Groves Club.

Last year she postponed a major operation so she could play the lead role in a production of Jack And Jill.

Pam said that although she had done a lot of research into MMR, she always seemed to come to a dead end.

The Department of Health insists there is no link between MMR and autism or bowel disease.

A spokesperson for the North Yorkshire Health Protection Unit, said: "The overwhelming majority of doctors and scientists believe the MMR vaccine to be a safe and effective way of protecting children."

Updated: 09:23 Saturday, November 08, 2003