Measles outbreak hits 620 cases

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 09 April 2013 | 21.24

9 April 2013 Last updated at 08:56 ET

The number of cases in the Swansea measles epidemic has reached 620, with health officials warning there is no sign of the epidemic coming to an end.

The latest figure is an increase of 32 on Friday, with around 15 to 20 new cases being confirmed every day.

Public Health Wales said there had been an excellent response to drop-in vaccination clinics last weekend.

But it warned 6,000 children have still not received the jab.

Parents across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend are being urged to get their children vaccinated.

The figure in the Swansea area is now just two short of the outbreak in the north west of England in the year to February 2013. Most of these cases were on Merseyside, in Greater Manchester and west Lancashire.

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Measles Q&A

  • How safe is it to take children to mainland Europe who have had two doses of the MMR vaccine?

It gives 99% protection against the measles virus.

  • What if they have had only one dose of MMR?

One dose is better than none, but two doses is better than one. If you are concerned about travelling to an outbreak area you can bring forward the second MMR dose. Speak to your GP about it.

  • What if my children are not vaccinated at all?

The advice is to go to your GP and arrange for them to be immunised as soon as possible before you travel. Measles is a dangerous viral illness that can be fatal.

BBC Health - Measles

About 1,700 people were vaccinated at special hospital drop-in clinics at the weekend, which health officials called an "excellent" response.

But they say at least 6,000 children are still unvaccinated in the county of Swansea.

'Not judging'

Dr Marion Lyons, director of health protection for Public Health Wales said: "We cannot be confident that the outbreak will not continue to grow with so many children still at risk from this very contagious and potentially fatal disease."

Some 60 people have been hospitalised since the start of the outbreak.

Sara Hayes, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board's director of public health, said: "Many children who missed the MMR jabs when they were little will be sitting exams once they go back to school.

"We are not in any way judgmental about why their children may have missed the MMR in the past. The important thing is that they get the jab now," she added.

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Analysis

Hywel Griffith BBC Wales correspondent


Around 6,000 children remain unvaccinated and with such a large deficit that means this highly virulent and contagious disease can still spread very quickly.

On when it will peak, microbiologists will tell you it's almost impossible to know until the figures are in, but it's hoped the mass vaccination will start to have an impact within about a week or 10 days.

If you look at the interval, we have had about 32 cases in four days, which is a slightly slower rate than last week.

But we will get more figures later this week and it's probably too early to judge whether we are coming to the peak of this outbreak or not.

Before the introduction of the MMR in 1988, about half a million children caught measles and about 100 died from it each year in the UK.

Concerns over the jab's safety were raised in the late 1990s when a surgeon published a since discredited paper in The Lancet suggesting MMR was linked to an increased risk of autism.

That paper, and subsequent media coverage, led to immunisation rates plummeting.

Although the epidemic is based in Swansea, cases continue to be reported across Wales.

Most are in the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg health region, which also includes Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend.

There are also cases in Powys and in the Hywel Dda Health Board area, which covers Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.

Officials have said it is "just a matter of time" before a child is left with serious and permanent complications, such as eye disorders, deafness or brain damage, or even dies.

Typical symptoms of measles include fever, cough, conjunctivitis and a rash. Complications are quite common even in healthy people, and about 20% of reported measles cases experience one or more complication.

These can include ear infections, vomiting and diarrhoea, pneumonia, meningitis and serious eye disorders.

Meanwhile, a Swansea newspaper has defended itself against claims that its 1990s anti-MMR campaign was to blame.

MMR vaccine being drawn into a syringe

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Jonathan Roberts, editor of the South Wales Evening Post, said the campaign was hard-hitting but reflected parents' concerns at the time about the safety of the vaccine.

It is the first time the newspaper has responded to claims that its campaign could have been responsible for a lower uptake of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine in the Swansea area.

"It is clear that there were genuine concerns in the mid-90s about MMR and the Post gave them full and responsible coverage," he said in the article on the Evening Post website.

He added that "with the benefit of hindsight" it is easy to be critical.

"To judge it honestly and fairly, one has to consider the fear which existed at the time, the fact that medical experts were publicly expressing concerns about the vaccine and the duty of this paper to reflect public opinion."

Mr Roberts will host a live webchat at 14:30 BST on Tuesday on the paper's website.


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