Largest group of children affected by measles outbreak in Wales is 10-18 year olds

The United Kingdom is likely to see more outbreaks of measles as the cohort of children who missed routine vaccination because of safety concerns move into secondary schools, doctors said this week.

The warning came as the number of cases in the Swansea area rose to 808 (as at Thursday 18 April). Public Health Wales said that a total of 77 people had been hospitalised since the beginning of the outbreak.

Uptake of the combination measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine fell from 92% in early 1995 to 79.9% in 2002-03, largely because of speculation that it might be linked to autism and Crohn’s disease. MMR uptake is now up again to 92.8% in the UK as a whole, with Scotland and Northern Ireland achieving the World Health Organization target of at least 95% coverage. However, pockets of much lower uptake exist, particularly in London, where the average …