Measles - U.K. And Europe

Parents in England and Wales are being urged to have their children vaccinated after a tenfold rise in measles cases in the first four months of the year.

The Health Protection Agency reported 334 cases compared with 33 in the similar period last year.


The outbreak is thought to be linked to an epidemic in France, where 7,000 cases have been reported since January - more than in the whole of 2010.

Worst-hit are London and the South East, with 104 and 102 confirmed cases respectively in the first quarter of this year.
Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at the Health Protection Agency, warned parents and young adults of the importance of immunisation.

"Although MMR coverage has improved over the last few years, we cannot stress enough that measles is serious and in some cases it can be fatal.

"Measles is a highly infectious and potentially dangerous illness which spreads very easily.

"Whether you stay here in the UK or travel abroad, it is crucial that individuals who may be at risk are fully immunised."

The vaccination rate had been well below 95% for several years, ever since The Lancet published controversial research about the MMR vaccine in 1998.


The study has since been discredited, but confidence in the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has been slow to return.

Source HPA

In Scotland, there have been 12 confirmed cases of measles between January and April, compared with no cases at all for the same time last year.

Since the start of 2011 Northern Ireland has had one confirmed case of measles.


In France, the figure of 7,000 cases so far this year already exceeds the 5,090 recorded in the whole of 2010.

The World Health Organization said France was taking immediate steps to control the outbreaks by vaccinating infants at nine months and offering the vaccine to all unimmunised or under-immunised people over that age.

Other European countries reporting an increase in cases of measles are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Romania, the Russian Federation, Sweden and Switzerland.

Number of laboratory confirmed measles cases in England and Wales

Please see Table On Link:  Number of laboratory confirmed measles cases by age group and regional health authorities (pre-April 2002 definitions) with onset dates between January and August 2011: England and Wales:
 
http://www.hpa.org.u:k/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1223019390211

From Various news sources, April 2011