Question
MMR vaccine.
Answer
MMR vaccine: a combined live attenuated vaccine providing protection against Measles, Mumps, and Rubella.
Schedule: typically a first dose at 9–12 months of age, with a second dose at 15–18 months (as per most national schedules; in India’s Universal Immunization Programme, measles/MR-containing vaccine is given at 9–12 months and a second dose at 16–24 months).
Significance: highly effective in preventing all three diseases and their complications — measles (encephalitis, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis), mumps (orchitis, meningitis, sensorineural deafness), and rubella (including Congenital Rubella Syndrome when women of childbearing age are immunized before pregnancy). As a live vaccine, contraindicated in pregnancy and in significantly immunocompromised individuals.