Measles on the march
Britain loses virus-free status, but PM vows to tackle ‘antivaxx’ scare stories
BRITAIN has lost its ‘measles-free’ status three years after the virus was eliminated in the country, Boris Johnson warned last night.
The Prime Minister pledged a ‘decisive’ response, which includes tackling the spread of misinformation by the ‘antivaxx’ movement.
The number of Britons vaccinating themselves or their children against the virus has steadily declined in recent years, while cases of measles have quadrupled in the last 12 months.
In the first quarter of this year, there were 231 confirmed cases.
Britain was declared ‘measles free’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2016 after a 36month period with no ‘endemic’ transmission – meaning the only outbreaks in that time had started abroad and were then passed on.
Since 2016, however, uptake of the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) jab has fallen each year and the WHO has revoked the country’s measles-free status.
Politicians are alarmed about ‘creeping cynicism’ surrounding the safety of vaccinations partly driven by the antivaxx movement, which spreads scare stories, conspiracy theories and false information about the jabs online.
Mr Johnson said last night: ‘After a period of progress where we were once able to declare Britain measles free, we’ve now seen hundreds of cases of measles in the UK this year. One case of this horrible disease is too many and I am determined to step up our efforts to tackle its spread.
‘This is a global challenge and there’s a number of reasons why people don’t get themselves or their children the vaccines they need, but we need decisive action across our health service and society to make sure communities are properly immunised.’
The Prime Minister is due to visit a hospital in south-west England today where he will outline the measures designed to improve vaccination rates.
These include taking on the antivaxx movement by creating a new NHS website setting out evidence on vaccine safety.
GPs will be ordered to promote ‘catch-up’ vaccination programmes for under-25s who have missed one or more MMR jabs.
The WHO says 95 per cent of the population must have two vaccinations – at aged one and aged three – to adequately protect against the disease. The UK’s current uptake rate for the first vaccine is 92 per cent.
But uptake fell for the fourth year running last year when hundreds of children in Scotland failed to get the second dose of the vaccine.
Some 96.3 per cent had received the first dose of MMR by the age of six, but only 93.3 per cent had the second dose.
In 2016, there were 26 confirmed measles cases in Scotland, with five the next year and two in 2018.
Dr Charlie Weller, head of vaccines at the Wellcome Trust, said this trend comes as Britons have forgotten the horrors of mass outbreaks of disease and said ‘complacency is an issue’.
But experts are particularly concerned about second vaccination uptake, for which the UK rate stands at 87 per cent, down from 89 per cent five years ago.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: ‘With this strategy, the whole health system will come together to renew focus on vaccinations, especially for our children.’
‘One case is too many’