Nowhere in England is safe from a measles outbreak, experts warned today amid a ‘very worrying’ slump in MMR vaccination rates.
To stop the extremely contagious disease ripping through communities, 95 per cent of children need both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella jab.
Yet MailOnline can today reveal that not a single authority in the country exceeds this threshold, set by the World Health Organization.
Nationally, England has never met the target, which health bosses admit is needed to ‘achieve and maintain measles elimination’.
Of the around 150 upper tier local authorities in England, Cumbria recorded the highest uptake – 94.8 per cent of five–year–olds living there have had both MMR doses.
In pockets of the country, fewer than two–thirds of kids are fully protected against the trio of illnesses, latest NHS figures show.
Hackney (combined with the City of London) logged the lowest rate of uptake with 60.8 per cent in 2023/24, followed by Islington (63.8 per cent) and Westminster (64.3 per cent).
Nationally, the figure stands at 83.9 per cent – the lowest figure in a decade.
This equates to around five children in every classroom.
Doctors blame the rise of anti–vaxx beliefs in the wake of Covid for fuelling the fall in rates.
Busy modern lifestyles and public complacency have also been cited for the crisis, with many adults forgetting that measles is a killer.
Dr David Elliman, a consultant community paediatrician and expert in vaccination at University College London, said: ‘The drift downwards in uptake of the vaccine is very worrying.
He said: ‘It is important that parents have an opportunity to speak to a well-informed health care professional who has the knowledge and time to answer any questions.
‘Too often parents say they are rushed and don’t get satisfactory answers to their questions.’
The MMR jab, which offers life-long protection, consists of two doses. In Britain, it’s given when a child turns one and then again at three years and four months.
After both doses, 99 per cent of people are protected from measles.
The illness, spread through coughs and sneezes, typically causes flu–like symptoms followed by a rash.
However, measles can trigger fatal health complications if it spreads to the lungs or the brain.
If pregnant women get infected, the virus can cause stillbirth and miscarriage.
One child in a classroom can give the virus to up to nine other unvaccinated children within 15 minutes, making it one of the most infectious diseases worldwide and even more transmissible than Covid.
To achieve ‘herd immunity’, the WHO states 95 per cent of a population needs to be vaccinated against measles.
This would stop the illness from being able to spread, even among the unvaccinated.
It comes after the death of a child in Liverpool last week from measles.
According to the Sunday Times, which revealed the news, it is understood the child who died was severely ill with measles and other serious health problems.
Health officials in the region said that the number of measles infections being treated at Alder Hey Hospital meant there were likely more infections than officially reported.
Last week, public health officials wrote an open letter to parents in the region, urging them to get their children vaccinated.
The MMR jab has been offered to children in Britain since the late 80s.
Uptake collapsed in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the wake of a 1998 discredited study by Andrew Wakefield, which falsely linked the vaccine with autism.
Tens of thousands of parents refused to let medics jab their children due to the bogus paper, published in medical journal The Lancet.
Donald Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr earlier this year vowed to ‘look at vaccines’, to determine what was behind spiralling autism rates.
Before his appointment, RFK Jr sparked outrage when he told Fox News in 2023: ‘I do believe autism comes from vaccines.’ Senator Bernie Sanders has even accused RFK Jr of praising Wakefield for his bogus research.
But in April RFK Jr pulled a major about–face when he said the MMR vaccine was the ‘most effective way’ to stave off the potentially dangerous virus.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency, said: ‘The decline of the uptake of childhood vaccinations including MMR in England in the past decade means that many thousands of children are left unprotected with the risk of outbreaks linked to nurseries and schools.
‘We are concerned that more measles outbreaks will occur on a larger scale this summer, as families travel to visit friends and family over the holidays, both at home and overseas.
‘Two doses of the MMR vaccine offers the best protection against measles and importantly vaccination is also about not spreading the disease to others who may be more vulnerable, such as those who are immunosuppressed and young infants aged under one who have not yet had the vaccine.
‘Speaking as a doctor and a mother, I strongly encourage all parents to ensure their children have the best possible protection but also to think about protecting other more vulnerable children.
‘Please act now to ensure your children are fully protected. You can check their immunisation Red Book or speak with the GP surgery.’
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