plekhanov Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Rise in measles 'very worrying' Measles cases in England and Wales rose by 36% in 2008, figures show. Confirmed cases increased from 990 in 2007 to 1,348 last year - the highest figure since the monitoring scheme was introduced in 1995. Health Protection Agency experts said most of the cases had been in children not fully vaccinated with combined MMR and so could have been prevented. Immunisation expert Dr Mary Ramsay said the rise was "very worrying", adding measles "should not be taken lightly". More than 600 of the 2008 measles cases occurred in London, where uptake of the vaccine for MMR - measles, mumps and rubella - is particularly low. Public confidence in the triple MMR vaccine dipped following research - since discredited - which raised the possibility that the jab may be linked to an increased risk of autism. It led to some parents opting to pay privately for single vaccines. Across the UK, 84.5% of two year olds have been immunised with their first dose of MMR. But by age five, when children are recommended to have a second dose, the latest uptake figures are 77.9%. Since 2005, the number of cases of measles has been rising year on year. There have also been sporadic outbreaks of mumps in recent years. Last summer, England's Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, announced a catch-up programme for those who had not received one or more doses of MMR. The Department of Health, which said the latest figures were concerning, has provided extra funding to PCTs and additional supplies of vaccine. 'Unprotected' Dr Ramsay said: "There are still many children out there who were not vaccinated as toddlers over the past decade and remain unprotected. "Unfortunately this means that measles, which is highly infectious, is spreading easily among these unvaccinated children. "Measles should not be taken lightly as you can never tell who will go on to develop the more serious complications of pneumonia and encephalitis." She said it was "never too late" to get the MMR vaccine. The figures come as a report from the World Health Organization on a measles outbreak in Germany in 2006, in which two children died, found 80% of those who had caught the infection were unvaccinated. Dr Peter Strebel, an immunisation expert at the WHO, stressed that even in countries with good health services, measles could be very serious. "Parents and doctors need to be reminded that measles is a highly contagious disease," he said. "Even healthy and well-nourished children, if unvaccinated, are at risk of measles and its complications such as pneumonia, encephalitis and, although rare, death." Professor David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said it was "irresponsible" for parents not to have their children vaccinated. He said: "I think it's irrational, I think it's putting children's lives at risk. I can see no shred of benefit. "There is no evidence that having vaccines separately is better. There are good reasons why it's worse." Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said confidence in the MMR vaccine was returning but it was vital that parents made sure all their children had received both doses. "Measles is a sinister and nasty illness and shouldn't be taken lightly." A spokeswoman for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said: "We cannot stress too strongly that all children and young people should have the MMR vaccine. "Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that the vaccine is safe." Figures for the number of measles cases in Scotland for 2008 are expected to be released in March. There had been a small increase earlier in the year due to a cluster of 54 cases in Greater Glasgow and Ayrshire. Take-up of the MMR vaccine in Scotland though is running at around 95% for the first dose. Northern Ireland has reported 24 probably cases of measles in 2008. Well I hope all those anti-vaccination activists and the parents who fell for their scaremongering are once again happy with themselves. Their fear of a theoretical risk which almost certainly doesn't even exist has exposed their and all other children to a real danger that unquestionably does exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Easy solution - offer the vaccines singly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plekhanov Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Easy solution - offer the vaccines singly. The MMR vaccine was introduced for a very good reason which is that so many parents just couldn't be bothered to make all the trips to the doctor necessary. How does your 'easy solution' deal with this rather significant problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcat Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Well I hope all those anti-vaccination activists and the parents who fell for their scaremongering are once again happy with themselves. Their fear of a theoretical risk which almost certainly doesn't even exist has exposed their and all other children to a real danger that unquestionably does exist. I think the issue is not so much the fault of the parents as the fault of the media for misrepresenting the scientific debate. Not just the tabloids, but private eye, radio and television stations all broadcast the debate with bias. If there is anyone to criticise for this it is a failure of the media to report the science correctly. (Link has reference to Private Eye's contribution to the hysteria) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/jun/16/whenjournalismkills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathom Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 The MMR vaccine was introduced for a very good reason which is that so many parents just couldn't be bothered to make all the trips to the doctor necessary. How does your 'easy solution' deal with this rather significant problem? I dread to think what kind of fools they were who were avoiding going to the doctor with their baby for the separate jabs. Our lad couldn't have his first MMR for months because of illness and I was worried sick those few months because he's exposed to lots of other children who might have been carrying Measles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffragette1 Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 The media are to blame for this, they seized upon some dubious piece of research which the BMJ had refused to publicise and whipped everyone up into a state of hysteria. This coinicided with my son's 1st MMR which I agonised about and eventually went for, having many a sleepless night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouija Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I worried about having LittleOuija vaccinated (although he has been) so don't think the parents are to blame for this. The ones that didn't have the vaccinations because of 'scaremongering' did it out of fear/desire to protect their children from the risk (or perceived risk) of autism, surely? What worried me about that quote above is that it said 80% of the children who caught measles hadn't been vaccinated. So, does that mean that 20% had been vaccinated but caught it anyway? That's scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJ_VENOM Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Easy solution - offer the vaccines singly. Easy solution was the MMR vaccine The idiots who didnt have their children vaccinated with the MMR and whos kids are suffering with measles should be prosecuted for child neglect! They believed one medical person of a link to Autism over the rest of the medical community Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxondale Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Well I hope all those anti-vaccination activists and the parents who fell for their scaremongering are once again happy with themselves. Their fear of a theoretical risk which almost certainly doesn't even exist has exposed their and all other children to a real danger that unquestionably does exist. or the risk that does exist and put one of mine in ICU for a week, only to be lied to by a so called "health profesional" when it came round to booster time ...................... er no thanks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plekhanov Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 I worried about having LittleOuija vaccinated (although he has been) so don't think the parents are to blame for this. The ones that didn't have the vaccinations because of 'scaremongering' did it out of fear/desire to protect their children from the risk (or perceived risk) of autism, surely? What worried me about that quote above is that it said 80% of the children who caught measles hadn't been vaccinated. So, does that mean that 20% had been vaccinated but caught it anyway? That's scary. The vaccination isn't perfectly affective particularly for kids whose immune system is weakened, however if enough people get vaccinated 'herd immunity' effectively protects even those with weakened immune systems as the disease will be so rare chances are kids won't encounter it. Trouble is herd immunity is progressively being lost thanks to idiot parents falling for baseless scaremongering and they are putting both their and other peoples kids at risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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