Vaccination call over Leicester's measles 'hotspot'

Rob Howard said the disease was highly contagious and, for some people, very dangerous

Leicester has become a "hotspot" for measles due to falling vaccination rates, health bosses have warned.

Government data has revealed up to 15% of children in the East Midlands have not had two doses of the MMR vaccine.

There are 31 confirmed measles cases in the region since October, figures show.

But Leicester's health boss Rob Howard said he was confident there had been about 70 cases in the city alone, adding people had forgotten how "horrible" the disease was.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the number of children having two doses of the MMR vaccine - needed for lifelong protection - was 85.2% in the East Midlands, well below the 95% target.

It added up to 11% of children in the region were not fully protected against infections by their fifth birthday.

Childhood vaccines offered through the routine NHS vaccination programme in England have been falling over the past decade across all vaccines, including whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, meningitis and diphtheria, officials said.

Nationally, figures show in the four weeks since 29 January, there have been 183 newly-confirmed cases, with the highest number of cases reported in the West Midlands (43%). This is followed by the North West (19%), London (14%), East Midlands (10%) and Yorkshire and The Humber (8%).

Figures show up to 11% of children in the region were not fully protected against infections by their fifth birthday

Lower vaccine uptake within communities is also directly linked to wider health inequalities.

Mr Howard, Leicester's director of public health, said: "We've had quite a few cases, unfortunately, in the city over the past few months.

"It's been a bit of a hotspot in terms of the East Midlands.

"Part of it is that people have forgotten what a horrible disease measles is.

"We haven't seen much of it over the past few decades because the vaccination came out at the end of the 1960s and levels have been so low.

"It is really contagious and, particularly for vulnerable people, it can be really dangerous and it does kill people."

'Present threat'

Mr Howard is working with UKHSA and the wider NHS to ask families to check on their vaccination status and then arrange an appointment if needed.

They can go to their GP, but a vaccination bus is also touring the area.

Dr Vanessa MacGregor, consultant in communicable disease control at UKHSA East Midlands, said: "We need an urgent reversal of the decline in the uptake of childhood vaccinations to protect our communities.

"Through this campaign, we are particularly appealing to parents to check their children's vaccination status and book appointments if their children have missed any immunisations.

"The ongoing measles outbreak we are seeing is a reminder of the very present threat."

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Watch now on iPlayer (UK only)