Fear of measles epidemic in UK
2009-01-12 08:15
London - Health experts said on Friday they
were concerned measles epidemics could break out in England and
Wales after fresh data showed infections were continuing to
rise.
The Health Protection Agency blamed the increase on the
relatively low levels of vaccination with the combined measles,
mumps and rubella (MMR) shot over the past decade after a health
scare.
"The agency is concerned that we may see measles epidemics
take hold," said HPA immunisation expert Mary Ramsay. "Although
MMR coverage is starting to improve, we cannot stress enough
that measles is serious and in some cases it can be fatal."
There were 115 cases of measles confirmed in England and
Wales in November, sharply up on the 83 and 72 cases in the
previous two months.
Most of the increase occurred outside London, which had its
lowest monthly tally for the year (12), and was concentrated in
the northwest, the West Midlands and the southeast.
'Too many kids remain unvaccinated'
To the end of November there were 1 217 cases, more than the
total of 990 recorded for all of 2007.
Health bosses have begun an MMR "catch up" programme to try
and identify children who have missed out on the jab and offer
them another chance to have it.
By September just under 78% of children had received
the two required doses of MMR, short of the 95% coverage
deemed necessary to eliminate the disease.
On Wednesday researchers warned that too many children
remain unvaccinated against measles for Europe to have any
realistic hope of getting rid of the disease by 2010, a World
Health Organisation goal.
In a study in the journal The Lancet, the researchers said
there had been 12 000 measles cases in Europe in 2006 and 2007.
All but 15% of these cases were recorded in five
countries - Romania, Germany, Britain, Switzerland and Italy.