Worst measles outbreak in Merseyside since 1988 as 214 cases reported this year alone

  • People who are not fully vaccinated ‘putting defenseless babies at risk’, says doctor

By
Daily Mail Reporter

10:51 EST, 2 May 2012

|

05:27 EST, 3 May 2012

Immunisation: More than 100 under-fives have caught measles despite the fact it is an avoidable illness

Immunisation: More than 100 under-fives have caught measles despite the fact it is an avoidable illness

More than 200 confirmed cases of measles on Merseyside have contributed to the worst outbreak of the disease since 1988, according to the Health Protection Agency.

The independent body said there have been 214 laboratory-confirmed cases since January, while 92 probable cases are being investigated.

It is the worst outbreak in the metropolitan area since the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced in 1988 and at least 39 of the confirmed cases have needed treatment in hospital.

Half the cases registered on Merseyside so far this year are children under the age of five, with another 30% aged 15 or over.

The majority of the confirmed cases have been in Liverpool and neighbouring areas such as Knowsley and Sefton.

Measles is a “very infectious” illness which spreads quickly among children and adults who are not vaccinated, and can lead to serious complications and, on rare occasions, death.

Symptoms include fever, cough, a runny nose, red eyes and a red rash.

Dr Roberto Vivancos, a consultant with the Health Protection Agency in Cheshire and Merseyside, said: ‘It is obvious from these statistics that people who are not fully vaccinated are not just at risk themselves, but they pose an infection risk to others, such as defenceless babies and toddlers who are too young to be vaccinated.

‘Measles should not be treated lightly, but it is an avoidable illness and we strongly advise parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated.

‘Our advice to unprotected teenagers and young adults is to arrange vaccination through your family doctor.

‘It is never too late to be vaccinated.’

People with measles are advised to avoid contact with others, especially pregnant women and children as they are more vulnerable to infection.

They are urged to stay away from schools, nurseries and work until at least four days after the onset of the rash.

Before attending a medical centre they should telephone their GP in advance so arrangements can be made to prevent others being infected.

For more information on measles visit the HPA website

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W E West Australia and Ruth from Cambridge…..how ill informed you both are. This extract is from the World Health Organisation.
Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. In 1980, before widespread vaccination, measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.
It remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. An estimated 139 300 people died from measles in 2010 – mostly children under the age of five.
Most measles-related deaths are caused by complications associated with the disease.
complications include blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhoea and related dehydration, ear infections, or severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia.
If you think this is a disease to laugh at, tell it to the parents of those children who have died through it.

It doesn’t seem to matter how many people post that they, their kids, their friends almost died from this, there are STILL people saying “Well I had it I didn’t die so it must be ok” no, it is not ok. The bad results may occur in a minority of cases but frankly if you’re willing to take that risk with your childs life then you shouldn’t be a parent. Easy way to solve the problem would be to give schools the right to refuse to accept unvaccinated kids, you want to base your childs future health on a discredited, incorrect report from a doctor that has been struck off then fine, but you’re not putting the rest of the kids at the school at risk so you can home teach them where they won’t be at risk of infecting anyone.

214 cases , how many fatalities? We all had measles and chicken pox and mumps,cant remember any of us dying! I had scarlet fever and also pneumonia, still here at sixty nine. I believe kids immune systems are not as active as ours were years ago!

I had measles – a few spots and a temperature. A week later it was over and I have natural immunity for life. Most of my friends also had measles as a child and none of them died from it. In fact, I never heard of any child at my school dying or being severely injured from measles in the 13 years of schooling that I had.
This paranoia is being drummed up by the drugs companies to keep them in business.

“The FACT is there is no reliable link between MMR and autism of any kind. Just one shoddy claim by one shoddy doctor which has been thoroughly debunked.”
The FACT is you are wrong. American children have been compensated by US judges when children have suffered neurological damage from vaccines which include diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. British families were reporting children with regressive autism and other serious neurological conditions in the early 1990’s long before Dr Wakefield’s 1998 Lancet paper. The UK Vaccine Damage Payment Unit has paid out compensation for devastating neurological conditions suffered by children.
If the UK Department of Health is truly concerned about measles then they have a duty of care to reinstate the single vaccines so those parents who have genuine concerns about MMR can have a choice. It shouldn’t be MMR or nothing.
My son has been brain damaged by MMR. In my opinion the MMR should carry a Gov’t health warning like cigarettes.

From above:-
‘It is obvious from these statistics that people who are not fully vaccinated are not just at risk themselves, but they pose an infection risk to others, such as defenceless babies and toddlers who are too young to be vaccinated.”
This article FAILS to tell us what percentage of young children, who contracted measles, were actually vaccinated against it? The MMR vaccine is given around 15months; a booster dose is given at around 5 years; 3 and 4 year olds will not have received a ‘booster’. Over 15’s can include persons born before MMR vaccine was introduced in the UK in 1988, or before the single measles vaccination introduced around 1968. Those of us born before then generally caught the measles during childhood and have lifelong immunity.
‘Unprotected teenagers and young adults’ in the UK will mostly have received either MMR or monovalent measles vaccine during childhood. It begs the question. How effective are these vaccines?

“The FACT is there is no reliable link between MMR and autism of any kind. Just one shoddy claim by one shoddy doctor which has been thoroughly debunked.”
The FACT is you are wrong. American children have been compensated by US judges when children have suffered neurological damage from vaccines which include diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. British families were reporting children with regressive autism and other serious neurological conditions in the early 1990’s long before Dr Wakefield’s 1998 Lancet paper. The UK Vaccine Damage Payment Unit has paid out compensation for devastating neurological conditions suffered by children.
If the UK Department of Health is truly concerned about measles then they have a duty of care to reinstate the single vaccines so those parents who have genuine concerns about MMR can have a choice. It shouldn’t be MMR or nothing.
My son has been brain damaged by MMR. In my opinion the MMR should carry a Gov’t health warning like cigarettes.

There are no cases in medical history of death or damage from measles : children who are starving need food and ckean water , not chronic disease, caused by vaccines. – Pat Rattigan , Chesterfield UK
Pat Rattigan, you are oh so wrong. Prior to available vaccination I worked with measles patients, hospitalised because of the severity of their disease. Some were quite young and a few died of complications due to measles. Dying of encephalitis, meningitis or heamorrhagic measles is nasty.

I was given the MMR jab when it first came out (well my mum was bullied into it to get local figures up. I was being breast fed when my mum had mumps, I had already had measles and was due to get the rubella jab at 14 – so didn’t need it but they kept hassling till my mum buckled. After having it I was hospitalized for the reaction I had to it which included hallucinations etc. I have since grown up and have a toddler and another on the way. I was apprehensive about immunizing my toddler with the MMR but it is given in 2 doses and the make up of it has been changed since I had it all those years ago. Needless to say my toddler was fine but can I just add that whilst it is given in 2 doses they are still susceptible to catching a mild form in-between the 2 doses.
Being on the other end of a reaction and actually suffering from on of these illnesses (when it was that bad it was touch and go, and I was forgetting names and what I was doing with measles) I would rather have the injection.

Susannah expat ftom Sydney, what a load of nonsense! My daughter was vaccinated agsinst whooping cough and STILL got whooping cough!

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