Concern over child vaccine take-up in South East

The UKHSA described the current measles outbreak as a "threat" and urged parents to get their children vaccinated

Concern has been raised about a fall in the uptake of childhood vaccines in the South East.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said around 1 in 10 (13.8%) children in the region are not protected with two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine by the age of five.

The figures come as the agency launched a campaign on Monday encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated.

Six cases of measles have been identified in the South East since October, it said.

Rachel Mearkle, a consultant in health protection at UKHSA South East, said: "We need an urgent reversal of the decline in the uptake of childhood vaccinations to protect our communities.

"It is not just their own health that can suffer, but other unvaccinated people around them such as school friends, family and those in their community could also experience serious infections."

She described the ongoing measles outbreak as a "very present threat".

In January, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced an "alarming" 45-fold increase in measles cases across Europe.

Almost 14% of children in the South East were not fully vaccinated by the time they started school

BBC South East Health Correspondent Mark Norman said experts are worried about child vaccination rates.

"In 2022/23, not a single vaccination met the 95% coverage target," he said. "Both MMR vaccinations fell to their lowest level for more than a decade."

The NHS said the current evidence shows that getting vaccinated is safer than not getting vaccinated.

Caroline Reid, from NHS England South East, added: “With the health of some children at risk because of falling vaccination rates, we really hope this campaign will help to remind parents about the important role childhood vaccines play."

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