Four in 10 children in parts of England have not had a vaccine to protect against measles and are at risk of being put in a three-week lockdown.
Councils in England have issued warnings to parents that children who aren’t up to date with their measles jabs could be sent home for 21 days if there is a measles outbreak in their school.
Measles is a highly contagious, and sometime fatal, disease that is capable of infecting nine in 10 unvaccinated children in a classroom if just one classmate is infectious.
While two doses of a jab called the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine is enough to offer 99 per cent protection, uptake across the UK is dangerously low, especially in London.
In Hackney, 41 per cent of children aren’t fully-jabbed — the highest proportion in the country — and could face being told to limit their contacts for weeks if there is a measles case at their school.
The graph shows the percentage of five-year-olds in England who have had both doses of the MMR vaccine. While the national average is 85.7 per cent, the figure drops as low as 59 per cent in Hackney, north London
Camden and Haringey, also north London boroughs, were also among those with the lowest jab uptake, with 37 and 35 per cent not having had both jabs, respectively.
In fact, the capital took the top 18 spots for most children unvaccinated against measles, with Liverpool only breaking the streak at 23.5 per cent.
The low uptake for both MMR jabs, which sits at 85.7 per cent nationally and 74.2 per cent in London, prompted health chiefs to warn earlier this year that 160,000 measles cases could occur in the capital alone.
Worries of an outbreak promoted the city’s councils to issue letters to parents in recent months warning unvaccinated children could be excluded from school for 21 days in the event of an outbreak in their classroom.
London’s Barnet Council, which recorded 29 per cent of children being unvaccinated, was one.
In a letter seen by MailOnline they wrote: ‘Currently we are seeing an increase in measles cases circulating in neighbouring London boroughs, so now is a good time to check that your child’s MMR vaccination — which not only protects your child against measles but also mumps and rubella — is up to date.’
It continued: ‘Any child identified as a close contact of a measles case without satisfactory vaccination status may be asked to self-isolate for up to 21 days.’
Haringey Council, which had the third worst MMR uptake of any local government area in England, is also reported to have sent out a similar letter.
Even councils who are ‘good’ performers in the capital are sending out warnings.
Hertfordshire County Council, where only one in 10 children aren’t up to date with their MMR jabs, also warned parents that unvaccinated children could face a 21-day exclusion period.
The 21-day isolation period is based of guidance published in 2019 by the UKHSA in 2019.
It states that if a measles case is detected, health teams will work with schools to advise on next steps for close contacts who haven’t had both MMR jabs.
This can include an offer of MMR vaccination, issuing preventative measles medication for close contacts of the child with vulnerable health conditions and potential exclusion for up to 21 days.
Siblings of an unvaccinated child who has been in close contact with a measles case could also be asked to self-isolate.
Such exclusions would mark the second time a virus has caused education disruption in England in recent years.
Education was massively disrupted by the Covid pandemic with schools shut or children forced into isolation for being close contacts of an infected person as per measures introduced to curb the spread of the virus at the time.
Given the low overall MMR uptake in London, the capital has been the focus of efforts to encourage parents to come forward and get their child vaccinated.
However, NHS data shows only two areas out of England’s near 150 have achieved the target 95 per cent immunisation rate which massively reduces the chances of an outbreak.
NHS England data released earlier this year shows that MMR vaccine uptake is just 89.2 per cent for one dose in two year olds, and to 85.7 per cent for both jabs among five year olds
These were County Durham in the North East (96 per cent) and East Riding of Yorkshire (95 per cent).
The 95 per cent target allows a population to effectively have herd immunity, which prevents the diseases from taking off throughout the population.
Herd immunity is critical aspect of protecting people unable to have the MMR vaccine due to an allergy.
Nationally, only about 85 per cent of children have had both their MMR jabs by their fifth birthday, meaning one in six don’t have full protection by the time they start school.
The MMR jab, which offers life-long protection from measles, consists of two doses and is 99 per cent effective at preventing infection.
In Britain, it’s first given when a child turns one and then again at three years and four months.
Measles, which mostly produces flu like symptoms and a rash, can cause very serious and even fatal health complications if it spreads to the lungs or the brain.
One in five children who catch measles will need to go to hospital, with one in 15 developing serious complications like meningitis or sepsis.
Part of what makes measles so serious is that it is highly contagious.
Health officials estimate nine out of 10 unvaccinated children will catch the disease if just one child in their classroom is infectious.
Medics have been increasingly concerned that measles, which has long been kept at bay because of these vaccines, could make a return due to declining uptake.
Uptake of the MMR jab collapsed in the wake of study by the now discredited medic Andrew Wakefield which falsely linked the jabs to autism.
MMR uptake in England was about 91 per cent prior to Wakefield’s study being published but plummeted to 80 per cent in the aftermath.
While rates have recovered slightly, thanks to concentrated efforts by health officials, a rise in anti-vax sentiment during the Covid pandemic is thought to have contributed to some parents opting not to get their children jabbed.
The latest data shows there 141 cases of measles recorded in England this year, up to July 31.
This is more than double the 54 cases recorded in the entirety of 2022.
Of the 2023 cases 85 (60 per cent) were spotted in London.
Only a fifth of the cases were imported by an inbound traveller to the UK, meaning the rest were result of local community transmission.
Of total cases 58 per cent were in children under 10-years-of-age.
Source: Mail Online
