Measles surge sparks jab plea

A LEADING GP is urging parents to make sure their children are protected by the MMR vaccine, amid reports of soaring numbers of measles cases.

Dr Kailash Chand, secretary of West Pennine Local Medical Committee, which covers Oldham, insisted the vaccine was safe.

He said: “As a GP I meet worried parents every day who want to do the best for their children.

“My message to them is that MMR is safe, there is no link to autism, get your children vaccinated.”

Dr Chand’s plea follows reports that the number of measles cases jumped by 36 per cent in 2008, to 1,348 cases in England and Wales.

The rise has been blamed on a slump in the uptake of the MMR jab after fears about its safety.

Latest figures on the uptake of the MMR jab in England and Wales show that 84.5 per cent received the first jab by their second birthday.

The number of pre-school children receiving both doses of MMR by their fifth birthday is 78 per cent.

In Oldham, the uptake is 90.8 per cent for children up to the age of two, falling to 88.4 per cent for children of school-entry age.

NHS Oldham says this is an increase of 3.2 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively, on the previous quarter.

NHS Oldham says it is constantly working to increase the MMR uptake and has been holding regular community catch-up clinics across the borough in GP practices, health centres and schools and is also targeting older teenagers.

Director of clinical leadership, Shauna Dixon, said: “Measles in particular is still very much around and is still a serious disease that can lead to complications.

“We are advising parents in Oldham that if their child has missed one or both of the MMR doses to contact their GP, practice nurse, health visitor or school nurse.”