Doctors worried by measles rise
The National Health Service (NHS) in England launched a campaign on 22 January to encourage more people to have the MMR vaccine. This protects against three illnesses: measles, mumps and rubella. Measles infections are rising in some parts of the UK because the number of people having the MMR vaccine has fallen in recent years.
What is a vaccine?
A vaccine is a type of medicine that trains the body to fight a disease using its own defences. Measles, mumps and rubella can be serious and are very contagious (passed on easily) but the MMR vaccine is very effective against them. Usually, children are given two doses of the MMR vaccine – the first when they are one year old and the second when they are just over three years old. People can catch up with missed vaccines when they are older. Once fully vaccinated, 99% of people are protected against measles and rubella and 88% against mumps.
What is the NHS doing?
The NHS is setting up MMR vaccine clinics in some schools, so children can easily be vaccinated. The NHS is also contacting one million young people aged between 11 and 25 who live in London, the West
Midlands and north-west England, asking them to catch up on any MMR vaccinations they might have missed. Teachers, local doctors and community leaders are helping to spread the message too.
Why is the campaign necessary?
The NHS says more than 3.4 million children aged under 16 have not had all their MMR vaccinations and are not fully protected against the diseases. The Government’s UK Health Security Agency says that last year there were 1,603 suspected measles infections in England and Wales, up from 2022, when there were 735. Steve Russell, who works for the NHS as director of vaccinations, said, “Anyone can catch up at any age on any missed doses and it’s never too late.”