Measles on the march among generation hit by MMR jab panic

‘National incident’ as disease spreads among youngsters who missed out on vaccine in 2000s

HEALTH officials have declared a “national measles incident” after a fivefold rise in cases over the past year.

Experts said outbreaks were largely affecting young adults who missed out on the MMR vaccine when they were younger. Uptake fell heavily following the publication of research in 1998, which was later discredited, linking the jab to autism.

And they said GPS should also pay attention to those travelling from countries such as Romania and Italy, where uptake has always been low.

The latest figures from Public Health England (PHE) show 643 cases of measles in England in the first five-and-ahalf months of this year, compared with 274 cases in 2017.

Cases were reported in most areas with London, the South East and West Midlands reporting the most, officials said. It follows the spread of the disease across Europe. Figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show 21,315 cases of measles last year, compared with 5,273 cases in 2016.

Worst hit were Romania, with 5,562 cases, Italy with 5,006 and Ukraine with 4,767. These states have some of the lowest measles vaccination rates, at 86 per cent, 85 per cent and 42 per cent respectively.

Medics warned that measles remains a threat, despite recent claims that the disease had been eliminated. An editorial published in the British Journal of General Practice highlights 48 deaths from the disease reported in the European Union since 2016.

In September last year, WHO declared that the elimination of measles had been achieved in the UK. Elimination can be verified once a country has sustained “interruption of endemic transmission” for at least 36 months.

But PHE officials confirmed that a national measles incident has now been declared, in order to coordinate attempts to tackle outbreaks.

Uptake of the MMR vaccine fell heavily following the publication of a study in The Lancet by Andrew Wakefield in 1998 which suggested a possible link between the inoculation and autism.

Experts have widely discredited his study and he was struck off the medical register in 2010. PHE said that while vaccine uptake levels in the UK in young children are currently very high, coverage levels dipped to a low of 80 per cent in 2003.

It said this means there are significant numbers of unprotected teenagers and young adults.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at Public Health England, said: “Measles can be more serious in adults, with a higher likelihood of hospitalisation and complications arising.

“If you are unsure if you have had two doses of MMR call your GP practice to check and catch up if needed.”

Prof Helen Stokes-lampard, Chairman of the Royal College of GPS, urged parents to “do the right thing” and have children vaccinated.

She said: “This is so disheartening when we consider how close we came to achieving medicine’s ultimate goal of confining this awful disease to the history books.”