20 January 2024 , 10:09
1007
0
Children are being forced to take three weeks off school as cases of measles in the UK soar.
More than 300 cases of the infection have been reported in the West Midlands area since October, which led to Birmingham Children’s Hospital treating highest number of the infection in decades. The recent uptick in confirmed cases has been blamed on a drop in the number of children having the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.
There are important signs for parents to look out for if they think their child may have the condition. They include a rash, sins of flu or tiredness. These may also be coupled with red eyes, fever and tiny spots on the back of the throat. Parents have been warned not to take the condition lightly as it can lead to serious complications such as ear infections, pneumonia and even death.
But figures for the measles vaccine show about one in 10 children attending nursery this year will not have been given both doses. Council chiefs in Birmingham wrote to parents and head teachers warning about the rise in cases, which mainly affected young children who had not been for an MMR jab.
The communication with parents read: “Anyone unvaccinated who is exposed to someone with measles may be advised to isolate for three weeks." Some children have already been forced to stay home because of the illness.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
The UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) told the Telegraph: "Children who have had to stay off school because of being in contact with a person with measles and being unvaccinated. If they have had one dose, they can stay in school, but if they have had neither, they are asked to stay off." Its advice, however, will "vary depending on the circumstances"
The West Midlands area has seen a huge increase in the number of measles cases (Getty Images)Recent figures show there has been 316 measles cases, including 203 which were confirmed plus a further 113 'likely 'cases. Dr Neil Bugg of the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust told the BBC: “It’s because it’s so contagious - if you put a child with measles in a room with ten unvaccinated people, nine of them would catch it.”
Meanwhile, UKHSA data shows 1,603 suspected measles cases were recorded in England and Wales in 2023. - a figure more than than twice as high as the 735 the previous year and is five times the 360 cases reported in 2021. And in the final week of December, 55 suspected cases were reported in England and Wales.
Prof Helen Bedford, an expert in child public health at University College London, added: "About one in 1000 people with measles develop inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), and even in high-income countries like the UK, about one in 5000 die from the infection."