Measles outbreak prompts calls for MMR jabs

In the past week, 43 new cases have appeared in the city, bringing the total number to more than 250 in the past three months – with the majority of infections occurring in children.

The news has led to renewed calls from health professionals for parents to immunise their children against measles, which can be fatal or cause permanent complications including severe brain damage.

In February, the Health Protection Agency said measles cases had reached their highest level for 18 years, and called on parents of unvaccinated children, as well as older teenagers, to give them the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination.

Vaccination levels are currently some of the highest ever seen, with statistics published by the NHS last year showing nine out of 10 children in England in 2011/12 had been immunised against MMR by their second birthday.

But older children may have missed the vaccination after many families avoided it following a now discredited report published in 1998 that linked the MMR jab to autism and bowel conditions.

Commenting on the results from Wales, Marion Lyons, director of health protection for Public Health Wales, said it was “only a matter of time” before a child’s health was “seriously damaged” by measles.

“We are urging parents of unvaccinated children to make immediate arrangements with their GP for their children to receive the safe and highly effective MMR vaccine,” said Lyons.

“The current pattern of cases and spread of illness indicates that this outbreak is likely to continue into the summer months and the risks to unvaccinated individuals will increase as more people become infected.”