Public Health England Calls For Increase In Uptake Of MMR Vaccination

Vaccinations are a globally divisive topic, with more and more parents opting to leave their children unvaccinated, threatening herd immunity and vulnerable groups.

While many wouldn't think twice about vaccinating children for both their own safety and of others, there are more and more voices going against vaccinations.

So much so that Public Health England (PHE) is now calling on all parents to get their children vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) either at the point of the vaccine being offered, or now if they skipped it at the time.

According to PHE, there were 231 confirmed cases of measles in the UK in the first quarter of 2019 compared to 90 in the last quarter of 2018.

Additionally this quarter, 795 cases of mumps were also confirmed, which is more than in the entirety of 2018. There were no cases of Rubella.

Anyone who hasn't had two doses of the MMR vaccine is at risk of contracting measles, especially unvaccinated people travelling to countries with a large outbreak.

In the final quarter of 2018, 94.9 per cent of eligible children aged five received the first dose of MMR. Figures for uptake this year haven't been released yet.

According to PHE, to achieve full herd immunity for measles, at least 90 to 95 per cent of the population needs to be fully protected.

That means getting both doses of the MMR vaccine, after which the level of protection is around 99 per cent.

The Head of Immunisation at Public Health England, Dr Mary Ramsay, said: "Measles can kill and it is incredibly easy to catch, especially if you are not vaccinated.

"Even one child missing their vaccine is one too many - if you are in any doubt about your child's vaccination status, ask your GP as it's never too late to get protected."

The Public Health Minister, Seema Kennedy, added: "Over 30 years ago we introduced the MMR vaccine, and since then our world-leading vaccination programme is estimated to have prevented 1.8 million painful and potentially fatal cases of measles.

"The vaccine was an enormous catapult for improving the health of children and young people and still is."

To combat the massive spread of misinformation about vaccinations, the NHS is also pushing to inform people.

When you search for measles on Twitter, you get a notification telling you to head to the NHS website to get all of the facts.

The vaccine available on the NHS to babies as part of their routine vaccination schedule, but is also available to all adults and children who are not up to date with their two doses.

You can check with your GP whether or not you are fully up to date.

Featured Image Credit: Unsplash

Topics: Life News, Real, Health

Marianne Eloise

Marianne writes about TV, film and internet culture for Nylon, VICE, The Guardian, Vulture, Time Out and more. She was previously a staff writer at Dazed.