Woman scratches her arm with one hand because of a red rash.
More than 1 million young people who have not been vaccinated against measles have been urged for treatment after a spike in infections in England.
Just five years ago, the country had “elimination” status for the disease. Now, he has seen hundreds of cases in just a few months.
At least 733 have been recorded since October, with most of them in the West Midlands and London.
This is a significant increase, with roughly the same number of cases reported throughout 2022.
On Tuesday, officials of the public health system he urged 900,000 adults aged 19 to 25 will come forward for a free vaccination against the disease. And last week, 200,000 teenagers aged 16 to 19 were asked to take the shots.
The invitations are the latest phase of a major campaign which has already seen England’s NHS invite more than a million children for catch-up jabs.
Although vaccinations are usually given in infancy and early childhood, they are still safe and effective for older children and adults.
Two doses offer very high protection against the disease, so people who missed even one shot as young children are advised to get them.
What is measles?
Measles is a highly contagious disease that can cause severe symptoms and even death.
It is spread by a virus that infects the respiratory tract and other parts of the body. Common symptoms include a rash, fever, runny nose and cough, but the disease can be much more serious.
It can lead to life-changing conditions such as deafness, blindness and brain swelling.
It is also dangerous for pregnant women, potentially leading to low birth weight, premature birth, and even stillbirth.
Steve Russell, NHS Director of Immunization and Prevention, said in a statement: “Measles is one of the most infectious diseases in the world and can cause serious harm to adults and children of all ages.”
“It is not a harmless infectious disease”
Experts fear measles outbreaks could get much worse if vaccination rates don’t improve.
Professor Beate Kampmann from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, he said in a statement that measles “is not a harmless infectious disease” and that “for every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two may die.”
Vaccination offers excellent protection against the disease. But coverage varies significantly over the years.
“To keep cases low, 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated, and unfortunately, current coverage is well below that goal,” Kampmann said. “If you want to protect your child and your community, get the vaccine.”
Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, consultant medical epidemiologist on immunization at the UK’s Health Security Agency, said the vaccination would protect those who cannot get the shots themselves.
“Being unvaccinated … means you risk spreading the disease to others, including those who are most at risk of becoming seriously ill – such as infants who cannot receive the … vaccine until their first birthday, pregnant women and people with a weakened immune system,” she said in a statement.
Legacy of a scandal
Many of the young people invited for vaccinations would have been eligible for vaccination in the late 1990s and early 2000s when rates began to fall in England.
At the time, the fraudulent investigation of ex-doctor Andrew Wakefield made headlines in the UK and beyond. A now retracted paper inside The Lancet Medical journal falsely linked mumps, measles and rubella vaccine to autism.
The paper was considered controversial even then. However, it is still considered to have had a significant impact on vaccination rates.
In recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted established childhood vaccination programs around the world. It has also seen the rise of a new breed of vaccine hesitancy.
Other countries – including the US – are also seeing spikes in measles. At least 45 cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Feb. 29, per CBS News.
In the UK, measles is on the rise against a backdrop of growing health inequality and rising levels of poverty. This is also a factor in lower vaccine coverage, according to Dr. Ben Kasstan-Dabush, Assistant Professor of Medical Anthropology at LSHTM.
“The declining coverage is occurring amid an unforgiving cost-of-living crisis, characterized by declining generational living standards, political austerity and an uneven recovery from the pandemic,” he said in a statement. “There are clear links between deprivation and lower vaccination coverage because uncertainty affects so many aspects of a parent’s life.”
Reduced measles vaccination rates, he added, “should be taken as seriously as vaccine programs during the Covid-19 pandemic and adequately resourced.”
