Parents should ignore anti-vaccine “social media fake news”, according to England’s medical chief

pharmafile | November 1, 2018 | News story | Medical Communications England, MMR, Vaccine, anti-vaccine, fake news 

England’s Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies has said that the MMR vaccine is “a safe vaccination” as she encouraged parents to vaccinate their children and ignore anti-vaccine myths and “social media fake news”.

The call has come on the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the MMR vaccine into the UK.

The Chief Medical Officer continued in suggesting that current vaccine coverage is “not good enough”, as she noted that current rates mean “a lot of protection but it doesn’t give us herd immunity.” She continued “So when people from abroad have been coming in, travelling infected, it is spreading into our local communities.”

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While the World Health Organization recommends a target of 95% coverage, current coverage in England lies at about 87%. However this is still an improvement on the low of 79% in 2003.

The reduced coverage is in part responsible for the 903 cases of measles in England so far this year.

Davies commented: “A number of people, stars, believe these myths – they are wrong. Over these 30 years, we have vaccinated millions of children. It is a safe vaccination – we know that – and we’ve saved millions of lives across the world. People who spread these myths, when children die they will not be there to pick up the pieces or the blame.”

Louis Goss

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