Cases of measles nearly quadruple since last year in UK

pharmafile | November 13, 2018 | News story | Manufacturing and Production MMR, Public Health England, UK, health, measles 

Public Health England is urging the public to ensure that they have received two doses of the MMR vaccine after it was revealed that there were more than 913 cases of measles between January the 1st and October 31st 2018, compared to the 259 that occurred across the whole of 2017.

The ‘steep rise’ has been linked to outbreaks in Europe and reduced rates of vaccine adherence.

“We will continue to see measles cases in unvaccinated individuals and are monitoring the situation carefully. People who have not had two doses of the MMR vaccine are particularly at risk,” commented Dr Mary Ramsay, head of Immunisation at Public Health England.

She added, “We want to remind people that measles is not just a disease of young children, and most of the cases this year have been in people over the age of 15.”

Louis Goss

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