Measles cases up for third consecutive year in England

London, February 9: According to health officials, Britain could face a measles epidemic because of parental reluctance towards measles, mumps and rubella vaccines.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) disclosed that the number of measles cases in England and Wales is up from 56 a decade ago to 1,348 last year. The figures for 2008 alone show that the number of measles cases increased by more than a third. The HPA data declared 1,348 cases in England and Wales in 2008, as opposed to only 990 cases in 2007.

In London, 662 children fell ill with measles in 2008, followed by 180 in the North West and 109 in the West Midlands. England and Wales had 112 cases of measles in babies under one, and 265 in those aged between one and three-and-a-half years. There were 432 cases in children aged from three years to 11 years, and 286 in youngsters aged 12 to 18. Among those aged 18 and over, there were 252 cases.

The increase in measles cases has been blamed on fears about the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination. Researchers reported that too many children remain unvaccinated against measles, thrashing the hope of Europe of banishing the disease by 2010. Countries like Romania, Germany, Britain, Switzerland and Italy have the lowest vaccination coverage.

Dr Mary Ramsay, an HPA immunization expert at the agency said, "There are still many children out there who were not vaccinated as toddlers over the past decade and remain unprotected. Unfortunately this means that measles, which is highly infectious, is spreading easily among these unvaccinated children."

Although many people view it as a relatively harmless childhood virus, measles kills about 250,000 people a year globally, mostly in poor nations.

Dr Mary Ramsay said that the yearly increase of measles across England and Wales is cause for concern. "Measles should not be taken lightly as you can never tell who will go on to develop the more serious complications of pneumonia and encephalitisdefine. This is why it's incredibly important to remember that measles isn't a 'harmless' childhood disease and that it is never too late to get your child immunized with the MMR vaccine."

Research has debunked the notion that vaccinations can cause autism, and public health experts advocate that immunizations save millions of lives every year.

Professor David Salisbury, director of Immunization at the Department of Health, said that parents had been irresponsible towards getting their kids vaccinated "Parents need to have the confidence to do what is best for their children."

However, the Department of Health was beginning to see an improvement in the uptake of the vaccine. Around 150,000 extra children were vaccinated over the past few months. Salisbury stated, "We are having an impact."