New figures from the National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS) show that thousands of Welsh parents have responded to the measles outbreak by arranging MMR jabs for their children.

Nearly 6,500 parents in Wales have arranged catch-up vaccinations for their children since April 2009, when the NPHS announced a Wales-wide outbreak of measles.

 

A total of 2,465 children between the ages of 4 and 16, who had previously missed their scheduled appointments for the first dose have now received unscheduled doses of the first MMR vaccination. A further 4,006 children, who had previously missed their scheduled appointments for the second dose, have completed the course, in the period from April to June.

 

Figures for the numbers of children being vaccinated when their MMR jabs are first due – at 13 months of age for the first dose and at around three and a half years for the second dose – are also at their highest in more than a decade.

 

The latest COVER report from the NPHS shows that 91 per cent of children reaching two years of age from April to June 2009 had received their first dose of MMR – the highest uptake figure for Wales since 1997.  Of the children reaching their fifth birthday during the same period, 85 per cent had received a complete two dose course of MMR.

 

The NPHS is now working closely with Local Health Boards and school nurses to ensure that unvaccinated children are contacted and offered vaccination as early as possible in the new term.

 

Dr Richard Roberts, Head of the NPHS’s Vaccine Preventable Disease Programme, said: “These figures are encouraging and show that parents have responded to the news of a Wales-wide measles outbreak by rethinking their decision not to vaccinate their children with MMR.

 

“Although the spread of the outbreak has slowed over the summer holidays, it is likely that we will see more cases of measles when the new school term starts and children begin to mix with each other on a daily basis again.

 

“We are therefore reminding any parent whose child has not yet received two doses of MMR and is overdue for these vaccinations that they should speak to their GP urgently before the new term starts.”

 

There have been 380 cases of measles in Wales since the beginning of this year, with 41 children being admitted to hospital.

 

Measles is a serious disease that can leave children with serious complications and kills in rare cases. Two doses of the MMR vaccination is the only protection against this very contagious virus.

 

Children should receive their first dose of the vaccine at 13 months of age and the second at around three years and four months of age.  

 

There is no need for younger children to receive vaccination earlier than scheduled, but the NPHS reminds parents that older children who are unvaccinated and catch measles can put babies at risk of contracting measles before they are old enough to be vaccinated.

 

Dr Roberts added: “We cannot emphasise enough that measles is an illness that can kill, or leave patients with permanent complications including severe brain damage.  More than 1 in 10 of the children who have been infected with measles in Wales so far this year have been ill enough to need hospital admission.

 

“The only way to prevent outbreaks of measles is to ensure that over 95 per cent of children in Wales have received two doses of the MMR vaccine. Although our uptake figures are improving steadily, we still have to keep working to protect all Welsh children from measles.”

 

Those most at risk of catching measles are children of school age who have not had two doses of MMR or children between the ages of one and three years who missed their first MMR dose at 13 months. 

 

People who catch measles will typically have a fever, cough, red eyes, and blocked nose and feel generally unwell. The blotchy rash appears a few days later beginning on the face and spreading downwards to the rest of the body over several days.

 

Typically, people will be infectious from the day before their first symptoms until four to five days after the appearance of the rash.

 

Any parent who suspects their child has measles should keep them away from school or nursery and contact their GP.

 

More information about measles is available from the NPHS website at: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgId=719&pid=23148

 

The latest COVER report is available at: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=457&pid=27778