Further outbreaks of measles will spread to other towns and
cities unless urgent action is taken to increase Measles, Mumps
and Rubella (MMR)
vaccination uptake in areas at greatest risk, the UK Health
Security Agency’s (UKHSA) Chief Executive is
warning today during a visit to Birmingham, amid a rapid rise in
cases in parts of the region since last October.
Professor Dame Jenny Harries is in Birmingham today (19 January)
to see first-hand the extensive clinical, health protection,
epidemiological and community engagement work on-going to contain
the spread of the disease and encourage communities to urgently
take up the offer of an MMR vaccine.
As of 18 January, there have been 216 confirmed cases and 103
probable cases in the West Midlands since 1 October 2023. Around
80% of cases have been seen in Birmingham, with about 10% in
Coventry, the majority being in children aged under 10 years.
Following a UKHSA
risk assessment published last July, which warned of the
potential for such outbreaks, Dame Jenny has expressed concern
that unless urgent action is taken we are likely to see the
measles virus spreading rapidly in other areas with low
MMR vaccine
uptake.
While in Birmingham, Dame Jenny will be visiting the Birmingham
Heartlands Hospital and meeting with health professionals
coordinating the response, including local UKHSA epidemiologists and
consultants, NHS leaders and local councils across the West
Midlands.
Learning what has worked and not worked in the West Midlands will
be key to help other areas prepare. There have been some recent
successful interventions focused to support local communities,
such as a pop-up vaccination clinic at a school in Coventry,
street level community engagement to promote vaccination and
training and awareness raising of frontline professionals in
schools and healthcare settings. But Dame Jenny is calling on all
local areas to make a sustained commitment to turn around the
falling MMR
uptake rates in communities across the country.
The UKHSA has
declared a national incident. This is an internal mechanism
within the Agency signalling the growing public health risk and
to enable the Agency to focus on limiting further spread of the
outbreak including additional work to help protect other areas at
greatest risk.
Professor Dame Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of UKHSA, said:
Colleagues across the West Midlands have worked tirelessly to try
to control the outbreak, but with vaccine uptake in some
communities so low, there is now a very real risk of seeing the
virus spread in other towns and cities.
Children who get measles can be very poorly and some will suffer
life changing complications. The best way for parents to protect
their children from measles is the MMR vaccine. Two doses of the
MMR vaccine give
lifelong protection and it’s never too late to catch up.
Immediate action is needed to boost MMR uptake across communities
where vaccine uptake is low. We know from the pandemic that the
communities themselves, and those providing services within them,
will have the knowledge to best support local families to
understand the risks of measles, to learn more about the vaccines
that can protect them and to enable innovative vaccine delivery
approaches. We need a long-term concerted effort to protect
individuals and to prevent large measles outbreaks.
In December, Dame Jenny welcomed the new NHS England
Vaccination Strategy, with its renewed focus on innovative
delivery approaches, recognising that the link between uptake
rates and vaccine confidence and accessibility is critical.
Responding to the Strategy she highlighted that UKHSA has committed to
supporting national vaccination programmes, including
MMR, as one of
the Agency’s top priorities. Working alongside the NHS,
UKHSA continues to
evaluate uptake coverage and effectiveness of immunisation
programmes in order to inform NHS routine vaccination programmes
in the future.
MMR is part of
the NHS Routine Childhood Immunisation Programme – with one dose
offered at one year and another second dose at 3 years 4 months.
Parents whose infants missed out, or anyone of any age who has
not yet had a vaccine, are urged to come forward. The free
MMR vaccine is a
safe and effective way of protecting against measles, as well as
mumps and rubella.
Measles spreads very easily among those who are unvaccinated,
especially in nurseries and schools. It can be a very unpleasant
illness and in some children can be very serious, leading to
hospitalisation and tragically even death in rare cases. People
in certain at-risk groups including babies and young children,
pregnant women, and people with weakened immunity, are at
increased risk of complications from measles.
Over 99% of those who have 2 doses of the MMR vaccine will be protected
against measles and rubella. The vaccine also provides protection
against mumps, which can be very painful with complications
including inflammation of the ovaries and testicles, and in rare
cases, the pancreas. Although mumps protection is slightly lower,
cases in vaccinated people are much less severe, highlighting the
importance of the MMR vaccination.
