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Measles outbreak alert
10:15am Wednesday 19th March 2008
Comments (32)DANGEROUSLY low take-up of a crucial childhood jab has put health bosses in York on alert for a measles outbreak.
After being virtually eradicated from the county three years ago, eight cases of the infection were reported in North Yorkshire in 2006 - a figure that doubled to 16 last year.
That comes as health chiefs fear there are currently more than 2,000 children under the age of five left unprotected from the disease.
The city's Health Protection Agency (HPA) said the majority of these cases were children who had not received the full course of the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Health chiefs and York doctors have now joined forces to urge parents to let their children be vaccinated.
Dr John Iredale, of Copmanthorpe Surgery, in York, said: "Measles can be a devastating disease if you get one of the rarer complications, such as deafness, and the increase in cases is extremely worrying.
"All children should have the MMR vaccine and by refusing the vaccine, parents are putting their own children and other people's children in danger."
Youngsters are supposed to receive two doses of the MMR vaccine - one at 13 months and another pre-school.
But after the publication in 1998 of research suggesting a link between the vaccine and autism, uptake fell to as low as 80 per cent in North Yorkshire.
Since the research was discredited, that percentage has now risen to 85 per cent - in line with the national average - but remains below the desired level of 95 per cent.
Dr David Fair, of Jorvik Medical Practice, in York, said if uptake of the vaccination did not increase, the Government should consider making it compulsory.
He said: "The risk of an outbreak is very real at the moment and my message to parents would be to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible.
"The MMR vaccine has been one of the most widely researched fields in the last couple of years and there is currently no evidence whatsoever to link it with autism, Crohn's disease, or any other side-effect.
"It would be daft to refuse it."
Dr Louise Coole, of the HPA, said until the take-up rate increased to 95 per cent, they would remain on alert for a measles outbreak.
She said: "That is the level of protection we need in the community to prevent an outbreak.
"The increase in cases that we are seeing is a concern. A few years ago, we just didn't get measles, but in the last two years that has changed.
"It is very much back on the medical map. Parents tend to underestimate this disease because it hasn't been around."
She said an investigation was launched into every reported case of measles and public health measures were put in place to stop an outbreak.
These include making sure that everybody who comes into contact with the infected person is vaccinated.
The essential facts of childhood illness
Measles is one of the most contagious viral diseases and is the most unpleasant and most dangerous of the children's diseases that result in a rash.
Symptoms:
- A fever at about 39 degrees Centigrade
- A cold
- Coughing
- Sore throat
- Reddish eyes
- Sensitivity to light
- Greyish spots may appear in the mouth around the molar teeth
- The rash, clear red spots, usually begins around the ears and spreads to the body and the legs with a day or two.
Possible complications: pneumonia, deafness and inflammation of the nervous system.
Measles and pregnancy: Having measles during a pregnancy can result in an infection of the unborn child and may in the worst case result in the death of the baby.
Have your say
Should all children be vaccinated against measles?
Your Say YourYork Press
Angry and Frustrated, York says...
11:01am Wed 19 Mar 08
It's not rocket science.............
.....
bobby dazzler, york says...
11:36am Wed 19 Mar 08
tricky ricky, malton says...
12:27pm Wed 19 Mar 08
This is not a matter to take lightly and I strongly urge ALL parents to pull the heads out of the media hype and have their children vaccinated.
martin, york says...
12:27pm Wed 19 Mar 08
I suspect health chiefs also get fat bonuses too.
as a parent of a child with autism and bowel disease I say Wakefields work is not discredited in my house.
Single vaccines and an honest assessment of the risks is what we need, not this non sense scaremongering propaganda war..
Mandi28, York says...
12:41pm Wed 19 Mar 08
Gardener wrote:As a trained nurse I can tell you that measles is a big deal. It can kill and not just while experiencing an attack of measles but years afterwards by the virus lying dormant and resurfacing with fatal consequences. Fair enough it isnt common...but it can happen.
Scaremongering to panic people. The drug companies are putting pressure on the NHS as they're not buying enough vaccine so they won't discount other products to them. It's all about costs not health. I've had measles as a child and it's no big deal.
martin, york says...
12:52pm Wed 19 Mar 08
Mandi28 wrote:As a person who was not vaccinated 30 years ago because it was considered risky (my sister had Asthma)
Gardener wrote:As a trained nurse I can tell you that measles is a big deal. It can kill and not just while experiencing an attack of measles but years afterwards by the virus lying dormant and resurfacing with fatal consequences. Fair enough it isnt common...but it can happen.
Scaremongering to panic people. The drug companies are putting pressure on the NHS as they're not buying enough vaccine so they won't discount other products to them. It's all about costs not health. I've had measles as a child and it's no big deal.
i had both mumps and measles. yes it is a big deal if you live in a third world country or if you already have a serious illness or condition. this blanked approach for herd immunity is for sheep not our children. 99% of children DO NOT need a booster of MMR, ASK to have you child's immunity tested before having a booster. did you know that????
Cari, York says...
1:14pm Wed 19 Mar 08
My thinking on the MMR is I don't think I'd give it to my kids. If you are giving your child three different illnesses at the same time, then I know that I wouldn't want 3 illnesses at the same time, I wouldn't want to have two together e.g. flu and measles, let alone 3.
Mandi28, York says...
1:39pm Wed 19 Mar 08
martin wrote:Are you asking me directly? I'm afraid I have to disagree with t your opinion that only children from developing cultures or with some kind of chronic illness is affected. I nursed a patient who subsequently died from a condition called SSPE, rare yes but wholly due to them contracting measles as a child. No they did not live in a developing country and no they had no chronic illness or condition.
Mandi28 wrote:As a person who was not vaccinated 30 years ago because it was considered risky (my sister had Asthma) i had both mumps and measles. yes it is a big deal if you live in a third world country or if you already have a serious illness or condition. this blanked approach for herd immunity is for sheep not our children. 99% of children DO NOT need a booster of MMR, ASK to have you child's immunity tested before having a booster. did you know that????Gardener wrote: Scaremongering to panic people. The drug companies are putting pressure on the NHS as they're not buying enough vaccine so they won't discount other products to them. It's all about costs not health. I've had measles as a child and it's no big deal.As a trained nurse I can tell you that measles is a big deal. It can kill and not just while experiencing an attack of measles but years afterwards by the virus lying dormant and resurfacing with fatal consequences. Fair enough it isnt common...but it can happen.
Mullarkian, York says...
2:40pm Wed 19 Mar 08
maryjane, york says...
2:48pm Wed 19 Mar 08
Gardener, York says...
3:02pm Wed 19 Mar 08
Gardener, York says...
3:04pm Wed 19 Mar 08
martin, york says...
3:31pm Wed 19 Mar 08
I am aware of SSPE and that it occurs in around 1 in 1,000,000 are you aware that you can suffer SSPE from the Vaccine itself?
this article should enlighten you .
http://www.whale.to/
v/mmr101.html
martin, york says...
3:39pm Wed 19 Mar 08
You will not find the stats on deaths or damage from vaccines, of course they occur as there is a risk in all medical procedures.
maryjane, york says...
4:05pm Wed 19 Mar 08
bjb, York says...
4:07pm Wed 19 Mar 08
Gardener wrote:I suffered serious loss of sight and my wife became almost deaf because of measles, so don't tell me it is not serious. Our lived have been blighted for many years.
Scaremongering to panic people. The drug companies are putting pressure on the NHS as they're not buying enough vaccine so they won't discount other products to them. It's all about costs not health. I've had measles as a child and it's no big deal.
As a child the rate of infection and death from many illnesses were common. It is only as a result of subsequent vaccination programmes that most have been wiped out.
Complacency and knee jurk reaction to scaremongering are liable to result in the return of some very serious conditions.
A lot of parents were more prepared to believe the unproven theories of only one attension seeking researcher, that the medical trials in most civilised countries, and refuse the MMR vaccine, despite the risk to their children.
I believe this is an act of gross irresponsibility. Should any child suffer serious complications from these deseases, having not been vaccinated, the parents should be prosecuted for child neglect.
maryjane, york says...
4:26pm Wed 19 Mar 08
bjb wrote:i agree, i wouldn't dream of not getting my daughter vaccinated, she'll get all the vaccinations they offer... parents who choose not to get their kids vaccinated possibly don't realise they're not only putting their kids at risk, it's other kids and unborn babies too...
Gardener wrote: Scaremongering to panic people. The drug companies are putting pressure on the NHS as they're not buying enough vaccine so they won't discount other products to them. It's all about costs not health. I've had measles as a child and it's no big deal.I suffered serious loss of sight and my wife became almost deaf because of measles, so don't tell me it is not serious. Our lived have been blighted for many years. As a child the rate of infection and death from many illnesses were common. It is only as a result of subsequent vaccination programmes that most have been wiped out. Complacency and knee jurk reaction to scaremongering are liable to result in the return of some very serious conditions. A lot of parents were more prepared to believe the unproven theories of only one attension seeking researcher, that the medical trials in most civilised countries, and refuse the MMR vaccine, despite the risk to their children. I believe this is an act of gross irresponsibility. Should any child suffer serious complications from these deseases, having not been vaccinated, the parents should be prosecuted for child neglect.
martin, york says...
4:29pm Wed 19 Mar 08
you probably are not aware of the news in the US, courts have ruled that children have been damaged by the MMR
http://www.sundayher
ald.com/news/heraldn
ews/display.var.2086
683.0.us_to_award_va
ccine_damage_payment
.php
there are 5000 other cases waiting to proceed.
this is not being reported in the UK.
why is this???
Cari, York says...
4:33pm Wed 19 Mar 08
comment, Leeds says...
4:57pm Wed 19 Mar 08
martin, york says...
5:00pm Wed 19 Mar 08
you probably are not aware of the news in the US, courts have ruled that children have been damaged by the MMR
http://www.sundayher
ald.com/news/heraldn
ews/display.var.2086
683.0.us_to_award_va
ccine_damage_payment
.php
there are 5000 other cases waiting to proceed.
this is not being reported in the UK.
why is this???
j, Bradford says...
5:25pm Wed 19 Mar 08
http://www.whale.to/
v/mmr101.html"
I don't think that site will enlighten anybody. Unless you believe in flying dolphins, alien abductions, demonic spirits and the global conspiracy that is the New World Order.
http://jdc325.wordpr
ess.com/2008/02/15/j
abs-and-whale/
martin, york says...
5:49pm Wed 19 Mar 08
j wrote:j, Bradford
"this article should enlighten you .
http://www.whale.to/
v/mmr101.html"
I don't think that site will enlighten anybody. Unless you believe in flying dolphins, alien abductions, demonic spirits and the global conspiracy that is the New World Order.
http://jdc325.wordpr
ess.com/2008/02/15/j
abs-and-whale/
it is just a reprint of an Sunday Express.
did you read it??
j, Bradford says...
5:49pm Wed 19 Mar 08
Actually, this isn't true - try these links for more info:
http://leftbrainrigh
tbrain.co.uk/?cat=80
http://scienceblogs.
com/insolence/2008/0
3/the_hannah_poling_
case_and_the_rebrand
in.php
martin, york says...
5:51pm Wed 19 Mar 08
martin, york says...
5:53pm Wed 19 Mar 08
Bemused, says...
8:02pm Wed 19 Mar 08
I seem to recall that one clinic pushing and selling individual jabs was prosecuted because they contained no vaccines.
One person who could have done a lot to encourage parents to take up the MMR vaccine was Blair. When the controversy was at its height his odious wife produced Leon. Blair refused point blank to confirm his son had had the MMR vaccine, and this was interpreted to mean he had the separate the vaccines. It figures!
There is a risk with all vaccines, but the greater risk is not having any vaccination at all.
bjb, York says...
10:44pm Wed 19 Mar 08
There is a risk with all vaccines, but the greater risk is not having any vaccination at all.
Spot on. The very point I was trying to make.
Menalitus, Peterborough says...
12:03pm Thu 20 Mar 08
j, Bradford says...
3:32pm Thu 20 Mar 08
Yes - the anti-vaccine lobby decided that must have been the case. There were three alternatives - that Leo had single jabs; that Leo had no jabs; or that Leo had the triple-jab. There was no evidence that Leo had single jabs (in fact, there was no evidence to support any one of the three possibilities) - that was just the conclusion jumped to by the A-V lobby. But then, I suppose they're used to jumping to conclusions that aren't backed by evidence.
j, Bradford says...
3:43pm Thu 20 Mar 08
http://thefamilyvoya
ge.blogspot.com/2008
/03/more-on-autism-m
mr-trash-story.html
Dr Louise Coole of the Health Protection Agency
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Gardener, York says...
10:50am Wed 19 Mar 08