Warning for parents as measles cases rise while vaccination rates fall
The number of measles cases in England and Wales has more than doubled in the past year, while the number of children being vaccinated is falling.
Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that there were 1,603 suspected infections in England and Wales in 2023.
The figure is more than double the 735 cases reported in 2022 and an almost fivefold increase compared to the 360 cases reported in 2021.
Birmingham Children’s Hospital warned on Friday that it had treated 50 children for measles in the past month – the highest number in years – as the West Midlands battles its worst outbreak since at least the mid-1990s.
London is also experiencing a rise in Victorian disease, with 44 cases in December alone.
Health chiefs blamed low uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine for the disease ‘gaining a foothold in communities’ and warned parents that hospitalizations and deaths will rise unless more children are vaccinated.
In England, 89.3 percent of two-year-olds received their first dose of the MMR vaccine in the year to March 2023 (blue line), compared to 89.2 percent the year before. Meanwhile, 88.7 percent of two-year-olds had both doses, up from 89 percent a year earlier
At least 95 percent of the population must be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks.
But nationally the percentage of five-year-olds fully vaccinated has fallen to 84.5 percent – the lowest in more than a decade.
The suspected cases are based on official reports from doctors who diagnose based on clinical symptoms.
Although laboratory tests later do not confirm it is measles, health chiefs warn that levels are clearly rising.
The MMR jab is first offered to children aged one year, with a second injection available shortly after they turn three.
Two doses provide up to 99 percent protection against measles, mumps and rubella, which can lead to meningitis, hearing loss and problems during pregnancy.
Data from UKHSA shows that the number of cases in the West Midlands has soared.
57 suspected cases were detected in December, representing more than a quarter of all 217 cases detected in England and Wales that month.
Dr. Naveed Syed, a consultant on communicable disease control at the UKHSA, based in the West Midlands, warned that he was seeing ‘more cases of measles increasing every day’.
He added: ‘The uptake of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella vaccine) in the region is far lower than needed to protect the population, giving this serious disease an opportunity to gain a foothold in our communities.”
Dr. Syed urged parents of schoolchildren to ensure they have had both doses.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, chairman of the government’s vaccine taskforce, said The times: ‘If vaccination coverage does not improve, it is likely that deaths and other complications from measles will reoccur.’
He added: ‘This disease is preventable. In 2016, we even showed that the disease can be completely blocked from our shores.
‘With the virus spreading in England today, it would be a tragedy if a child were to die from measles when we have the tools to stop it.’
The latest NHS Digital shows that up to four in 10 children in parts of England will not have had both MMR jabs by the time they turn five.
Only 56.3 percent of young people in Hackney, east London, were fully protected against measles, mumps and rubella in 2022/2023.
After Hackney came Camden (63.6 percent) and Enfield (64.8 percent).
Outside London, the lowest uptake rates for both doses among five-year-olds were recorded in Liverpool (73.6 per cent), Manchester (74.5 per cent) and Birmingham (75.1 per cent).
Concerns about the low uptake in the capital saw The councils are sending letters to parents warning that unvaccinated children could be excluded from school for three weeks in the event of an outbreak in their classroom.
This advice was first issued by UKHSA chiefs in 2019, but councils brought it to parents’ attention amid a spike in measles cases.
Measles can infect nine out of ten children in a classroom if only one classmate is contagious.
In November, new guidance was set out for NHS staff when dealing with children with respiratory infections, which prompts them to ‘think about measles’.
The document, from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, asked health workers to check the vaccination records of all children arriving at hospital.
Measles, which usually causes flu-like symptoms and a rash, can cause very serious and even fatal health complications if the disease spreads to the lungs or brain. One in five children who contract measles will need to go to hospital, and one in fifteen will develop serious complications such as meningitis or sepsis
Anyone showing symptoms of the disease should be immediately isolated, while staff should wear personal protective equipment, it urged.
Measles, which usually causes flu-like symptoms and a rash, can cause very serious and even fatal health complications if the disease spreads to the lungs or brain.
One in five children who contract measles needs to go to hospital, while one in fifteen develops serious complications, such as meningitis or sepsis.
Doctors are increasingly concerned that measles, long kept at bay thanks to these vaccines, could return due to declining uptake.
Acceptance of the MMR jab collapsed after research by the now discredited doctor Andrew Wakefield, who wrongly linked the jabs to autism.
Uptake of MMR in England was around 91 percent before the publication of Wakefield’s research, but fell to 80 percent in the aftermath.
Although the numbers have recovered slightly thanks to concentrated efforts by health officials, a rise in anti-vax sentiment during the Covid pandemic is believed to have contributed to some parents choosing not to have their children jabbed.
An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘Measles is incredibly contagious, can cause serious illness and there is no specific treatment for it – so vaccination is the best possible protection.
‘The MMR vaccine is safe and has been used for decades to protect children. So it is very important to check your child’s vaccination status and ensure that any missed doses are caught up.’