Alert for pregnant women as measles cases soar

PREGNANT WOMEN are being urged to make sure they are protected against measles after a sharp rise in figures for the highly infectious illness which puts unborn children at risk .

A leading midwife has issued a warning after 781 cases were reported in England since January – up from 274 in the whole of 2017.

Pregnant women who think they have come into contact with someone with measles and know they are not immune should see their GP urgently said Janet Cairns, Head of Midwifery at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

She said catching measles during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth or premature labour. She said: “Now is the right time to check if you and your family are vaccinated against the risk of measles.

“GPs can advise, and give vaccines to anyone who has not been adequately protected. Two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine can prevent more than 95 per cent of cases of measles, mumps and rubella.

“If you are pregnant and have been in contact with someone with measles, which is infectious from a few days before the rash appears, please contact your GP or midwife, who can request a blood test to check whether you are immune.”

Figures from Public Health England (PHE) show that most measles cases have been reported in London, followed by the SouthEast, South-West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber, where there have been over 70 cases since the start of the year.

New cases in Britain have been linked to a European outbreak, prompting health officials to call on travellers to make sure they have had their MMR jabs. Uptake of the vaccine fell in the 1990s following claims by Andrew Wakefield which suggested a link between the inoculation and autism. Experts have discredited his study and he was struck off the medical register in 2010.

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. Warnings have been made that as a result, many teenagers and young adults are unprotected against the viral illness, which can be deadly in some cases.