Measles jab to travel to the UK

Outbreaks in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Romania lead Spanish paediatricians to recommend vaccinations for babies up to a year old

Paediatricians recommend vaccines for children under 12 months of age when travelling to several European countries.

PAEDIATRICIANS in Spain are recommending measles vaccinations for children under one year of age when travelling to several European countries.

Outbreaks of measles in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Romania have been considered 'epidemic' by health authorities and

Children do not generally get their triplevirus jab (which protects from measles, mumps and German measles) until they are 12 months old as scheduled in the Spanish national vaccination plan.

The vaccination assessing committee for the Spanish paediatricians' association (AEP) have recommended bringing forward the jab for all children age six to 12 months whose families are planning to travel to one of the countries affected.

The committee reminds doctors that many of these countries are traditional summer holiday destinations for Spanish tourists, and the risk of catching measles is 'very high'.

Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10 to 12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7 to 10 days.

Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than 40°C, cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes. Small white spots known as Koplik's spots may form inside the mouth two or three days after the start of symptoms.

A red, flat rash that usually starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body typically begins three to five days after the start of symptoms.

Complications occur in about 30% of cases and may include diarrhoea, blindness, inflammation of the brain, and pneumonia, among others.

Measles is an airborne disease that spreads easily through the coughs and sneezes of infected people, although it may also be spread through contact with saliva or nasal secretions.

Nine out of ten people who are not immune and share living space with an infected person will catch it. People are infectious to others from four days before to four days after the start of the rash.

Most people do not get the disease more than once.