UK: Epidemic fears as MMR jab rates stall

[Guest guest]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article4818440.ece

From Times Online

September 24, 2008

Epidemic fears as MMR jab rates stall

Rose

Vaccination rates for the MMR jab have stalled in England, well below the

required coverage to prevent a measles epidemic, the latest figures show.

Children in many areas are still not receiving the recommended two doses of

the jab — for measles, mumps and rubella — with less than half of

five-year-olds in London having received both a vaccine and booster.

The Government has launched a £5.5 million drive to increase uptake rates

after increased rates of measles were reported in recent months.

The new data from the NHS Information Centre shows that 85 per cent of

children had had the triple jab by aged two in 2007-8 - the same as the year

before.

But to achieve the “herd immunity” needed to virtually eradicate illness, 95

per cent of children need to be vaccinated.

The vaccination rate has been well below the required level for several

years since the Lancet medical journal published a research paper in 1998,

purporting to show a link between MMR and the risk of bowel disorders and

autism.

The study has since been discredited, but coverage of the vaccine plummeted

in the wake of the controvesy from 91 per cent in 1997 to 80 per cent in

2003.

Confidence in the combined vaccine has since been slow to recover.

Nonetheless, uptake had been rising since 2003-4 until the latest figures

were published.

It comes after rates of measles rose this year to reach 797 cases by the end

of July, with two thirds of the cases reported in London, the Health

Protection Agency said. The total for the whole of 2007 was 990 cases.

Nearly three-quarters of all laboratory confirmed cases so far this year

were in children aged one to 18 years — only 4.5 per cent of these were

reported as having receiving at least one dose of a measles vaccine.

The Chief Medical Officer pledged extra funding for local NHS Primary Care

Trusts (PCTs) to undertake catch-up programmes to immunise children and

young people up to the age of 18 years who have not received a full course

of vaccination.

Without an improvement in coverage, a measles epidemic would happen “at some

point”, he added.

However, just 24 out of the 152 PCTs recorded uptake rates of over 90 per

cent and none achieved the 95 per cent mark in the last year.

London had the worst record with the overall average for the capital below

80 per cent — although not all trusts could provide complete data.

By age five, 74 per cent had had the recommended booster dose, offered to

protect the one in 10 children who fail to develop immunity after a first

dose.

But officials said the overall vaccination rate could be higher as some

parents may be organising separate single vaccinations instead of the

three-in-one combined jab.

Professor Salisbury, the government’s director of immunisation, said:

“MMR uptake is still not sufficient to remove the serious threat of measles

outbreaks.

“Parents who have not had their children vaccinated with the MMR vaccine

should do so now.

“The evidence on MMR is absolutely clear — there is no link between the

vaccine and autism and delaying immunisation puts children at risk.”

Cleverly AM, Chairman of the London Assembly Health and Public

Services Committee, called for “immediate action to protect Londoners from

disease before the risks to public health increase even further.”

“The gap between coverage levels achieved in the capital and the national

average is widening. This is unacceptable. Complications from measles and

mumps can be devastating to children and their families. Parents need to

give their children a healthy start in life — vaccinations are an effective

means of preventing potentially life-threatening diseases. "

“It is worrying that 11 London PCTs did not report any data, as without knowing

the true scale of the problem, we cannot begin to tackle this danger to public

health.”