Greater Manchester GP's plea to parents over measles vaccine uptake

Dr Helen Wall said measles vaccination rates had fallen in recent years

Parents in Greater Manchester have been urged to vaccinate their children against measles as cases numbers rise across the region.

Bolton GP Dr Helen Wall said the "extremely contagious" infection had the ability to spread rapidly.

NHS bosses plan to ramp up vaccination efforts after the majority of new cases in the North West in the last week were identified in Greater Manchester.

Dr Wall said the rise was due to a fall in vaccine rates below the 95% target.

It comes as new clusters of measles case have emerged across England in the last month.

Fourteen new cases have been found in the North West in the last week, according to the latest UK Health Security Agency update.

Most of those have come from the Greater Manchester region.

'Devastating consequences'

Dr Wall said NHS bosses feared many had become complacent about measles after the infection was largely eradicated years ago.

"That means lots of young parents have never seen measles, and they just don't know the devastating consequences of it," she said.

The GP, who is also clinical director for population health at NHS Greater Manchester, said she understood it was also hard for parents to take time off work to have their children vaccinated.

NHS leaders in the region are planning to open clinics on Saturdays, run catch-up programmes in schools and pilot schemes in pharmacies and clinics to boost uptake, she said.

Red Duncombe said she was concerned about the rise in cases

Red Duncombe, a 38-year-old mother from Bolton, said the increase was very worrying "because obviously you don't want any child to be catching that kind of illness".

After having her children vaccinated, she has urged parents who have not to follow suit as "you're not making it safe for other children to be around your children".