National incident declared as measles cases surge

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Health chiefs have declared a nationwide incident over a surge in measles cases amid fears {that a} West Midlands outbreak may unfold.

The UK is on a trajectory for “everything getting much worse” on the subject of the virus spreading, the pinnacle of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned.

Professor Dame Jenny Harries stated that with out pressing motion, measles is more likely to unfold quickly and that rapid motion was wanted to spice up uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in areas the place numbers of kids having the jab had been low.

“We need a long-term concerted effort to protect individuals and to prevent large measles outbreaks,” she stated.

Symptoms of the extremely infectious virus embody a nasty rash, excessive fever, ear infections, purple, watery eyes and aches and pains.

But official figures present uptake of the vaccine is at its lowest level in additional than a decade.

In 2022-23, solely 84.5 per cent of children in England had acquired each doses of the jab by the age of 5 – the bottom stage since 2010-11.

Since 1 October final yr, there have been 216 confirmed measles cases and 103 possible cases within the West Midlands, in line with the company’s figures.

Four-fifths of cases had been in Birmingham and one in 10 was in Coventry, most in youngsters aged below 10.

In London, two councils have written to oldsters to inform them any unvaccinated little one who comes into shut contact with a measles case may very well be requested to self-isolate for as much as 21 days.

Last yr, there have been 1,603 suspected cases of measles in England and Wales, a pointy improve from 735 cases the yr earlier than and 360 earlier than that.

Declaring a nationwide incident alerts a rising public well being danger and allows well being chiefs to focus their sources in particular areas.

Dame Jenny stated uptake of MMR vaccines differed amongst communities.

“This is an important point, I think, for the West Midlands, for those in Muslim communities. They will be not keen to take up one of the MMR vaccines that we offer which has a pork-based derivative.

“But it’s really important that they’re aware there is a non-porcine vaccine which is available to them and very effective.”

She added: “Children who get measles can be very poorly and some will suffer life-changing complications.”

False considerations linking the vaccinations to autism, which had been later disproven, brought on the uptake price to drop in the course of the late Nineteen Nineties.

Helen Bedford, professor of kids’s well being at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, stated: “About one in 1,000 people with measles develops inflammation of the brain, and even in high-income countries like the UK, about one in 5,000 die from the infection.

“Apart from managing the symptoms of measles, there is no treatment.”

NHS England has, for the primary time, issued infection-control steering on measles to the NHS.

It includes making certain communication between GP surgical procedures and hospitals if a affected person with measles is admitted for care.

A measles affected person who must see a GP ought to be remoted on the time of arrival – for instance, in a aspect room – and appointments ought to be scheduled to cut back ready instances in reception areas to keep away from spreading the illness, the steering says.