A FALL in the number of parents allowing
their children to have the combined measles,
mumps and rubella vaccine has been blamed
for a resurgence of measles that has claimed
the life of a 13-year-old boy.
More people have been infected in the
first three months of this year than the
whole of 2005, and at least 30 children have
caught measles in a single outbreak in South
Yorkshire.
The teenager is Britain’s first fatality
in 14 years.
Immunisation rates here, eight years
after the first scare over the combined
measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine,
are among the lowest in Western Europe.
Fears that the triple jab could lead to
autism caused take-up to fall from over 90
per cent in 1998 to less than 80 per cent
two years ago. Currently, 81 per cent of
children have the combined vaccine before
they are two; many European countries
achieve the 95 per cent coverage recommended
by the World Health Organisation to prevent
outbreaks.
The 13-year-old who died last month lived
in a travellers’ community. It is thought
that he had a weakened immune system; he was
being treated for a lung condition. The boy
died of an infection of the central nervous
system caused by a reaction to the measles
virus. The Health Protection Agency
described his death as shocking.
There have been 100 cases of measles this
year, compared with 77 in all of last year.
Of the 72 cases of measles confirmed by the
middle of last month nine patients were
hospitalised.
A number of cases were among the
travelling community, which has a low uptake
of MMR vaccine. Two jabs are needed to give
complete protection and, of the 72 confirmed
cases, two children had received only the
first injection.
Many parents now opt for single vaccines
against measles, mumps and rubella rather
than the combined jab. This year three
patients caught measles despite having had
single-vaccine jabs. Two of these were given
in South Africa.
In the Doncaster outbreak, 32 cases have
been confirmed and 36 are being
investigated.The first infections developed
among children at the same playgroup who, at
less than a year old, were too young to have
had the MMR jab. The disease has now spread
to older children and nearby areas.
Dr Wendy Phillips, a consultant in
communicable disease control for the Health
Protection Agency, said: “People with
measles are very infectious — particularly
from the start of symptoms to about four
days after the rash develops. You can be
very infectious before you even realise you
have measles; once measles gets into a
community, it spreads very quickly to anyone
who is not protected.”
After the MMR jab was introduced in 1988,
immunisation among British children at the
age of 2 rose from about 75 per cent to 92
per cent. By 2004 developed countries such
as Germany and Spain had an immunisation
rate of more than 90 per cent, but Britain’s
had fallen to 80 per cent. However, uptake
is rising: provisional figures indicate that
about 82 per cent of children are now
vaccinated with MMR. There are no figures
showing how many have had individual
vaccines.
Despite popular belief that measles has
been eradicated in the developed world, a
substantial number of people still catch it.
In 2004 France had 4,448 cases and Germany
had 121.
Complications include severe coughs and
breathing difficulties, ear and eye
infections and pneumonia. Rarely, there can
be serious complications affecting the brain
and nervous system.
The Health Protection Agency said: “We
would urge parents to have their children
vaccinated with MMR.”
- More than 1,000 staff at the Central
Middlesex Hospital in northwest London
were being vaccinated last night after a
measles outbreak. Six nurses were in
isolation after catching the disease
from two children recently admitted to
the hospital.