The number of measles cases in England and Wales has exceeded 1,000 in a year for the first time since 1995.
Health Protection Agency statistics show that there were 1,049 cases in the first 10 months of 2008 , more than in the whole of 2007.
THe Agency says that measles was spreading more easily because of the low uptake of the combined MMR jab over the past decade. In Cheshire, an outbreak of more than 60 cases has prompted the launch of a programme to vaccinate 10,000 pupils. In central and eastern Cheshire, health officials are so concerned about their outbreak of cases that they are embarking on a mass vaccination programme. More than 10,000 children are being offered the MMR jab by teams of nurses who will visit primary and secondary schools in the next few weeks. Vaccination will not take place without the consent of parents.
It was the now debunked claims of a link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella jab and autism that led to the decade of relatively low vaccination coverage.In 1998, for example, there were just 56 cases of measles yet 10 years on that has risen to 1,049.
Public health experts say the growing number of children who are unprotected means there is a real risk of an epidemic. Frighteningly, about 3m or one in four children have not had both MMR doses. It is estimated this could result in between 30,000 and 100,000 cases of measles in England alone. Although MMR coverage is higher in Scotland and Northern Ireland, experts said an epidemic could affect children anywhere.
Dr Mary Ramsay, an immunisation expert at the Health Protection Agency, said:
"Over the last few years we have seen an unprecedented increase in measles cases and we are still receiving reports of cases across the country. The 1,049 figure is the highest number of measles cases recorded in England and Wales since the current method of monitoring the disease was introduced in 1995. This rise is due to relatively low MMR vaccine uptake over the past decade and there are now a large number of children who are not fully vaccinated with MMR. This means that measles is spreading easily among unvaccinated children. There is now a real risk of a large measles epidemic. These children are susceptible to not only measles but to mumps and rubella as well."
Dr David Salisbury, the government's head of immunisation, said:
"Measles is about the most infectious virus we know. It just spreads like wildfire."
A measles vaccine was introduced in the late 1960s, followed by the three-in-one MMR jab in 1988. Although the majority of children recover fully from measles, it can be a serious illness with one in 10 cases requiring hospital treatment and possibly leading to pneumonia, brain damage and even death.
In 1965 there were 115 deaths from measles, but the rates fell off dramatically after the introduction of the vaccine.
November 2008 | 
Measles On The Up
