There have been 216 cases in the West Midlands since October 2023, with 80 per cent in Birmingham
Immediate action is needed across the country to ensure children are vaccinated against potentially deadly measles amid a surge of the infection, the UK’s top health body warned.
Professor Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), urged parents to check if their children have had the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab as hundreds of cases were confirmed in the West Midlands.
There have been 216 confirmed cases and 103 probable cases of measles in the West Midlands, with 80 per cent in Birmingham, between October 2023 and January 2024.
“Immediate action is needed to boost MMR uptake across communities where vaccine uptake is low. We need a long-term concerted effort to protect individuals and to prevent large measles outbreaks,” Prof Harries said.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Immediate action is needed across the country to ensure children are vaccinated against potentially deadly measles amid a surge of the infection, the UK’s top health body warned.
Professor Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), urged parents to check if their children have had the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab as hundreds of cases were confirmed in the West Midlands.
Prof Harries warned low vaccine uptake in the region now presented a “very real risk” of the virus spreading to other towns and cities.
“Colleagues across the West Midlands have worked tirelessly to try to control the outbreak, but with vaccine uptake in some communities so low, there is now a very real risk of seeing the virus spread in other towns and cities,” she said.
In the 1990s and 2000s there was a fall in children receiving the jab due to false claims the vaccine was linked to autism, and the UK lost its measles-free status three years after virus transmission was eliminated.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, Chair of the UK health department’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, previously told The Independent: “The main reason for this new outbreak is the increase in unvaccinated children in the last few years.
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