Merseyside measles outbreak fear over low vaccine uptake

Alder Hey Children's Hospital's Professor Calum Semple says it is essential parents get their children protected

A consultant at Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital said he fears children will die unless there is a significant increase in MMR vaccinations.

Vaccination rates in parts of the city are as low as 50%, and there has been a rise in measles cases across England.

Professor Calum Semple said there was higher vaccination uptake in the city during the 2012-13 outbreak.

He said a new outbreak could result in "several hundred cases... deaths and disability".

Professor Calum Semple said measles is "and entirely preventable disease"

More than 300 cases of measles were confirmed on Merseyside in 2012, of which 70 were in babies and toddlers under the age of one who were too young to be vaccinated.

That made them vulnerable to infection from older contacts.

About 55 of the cases were in children aged 13-40 months, who were either wholly or partially unvaccinated.

There has been a recent increase in cases of the disease in the West Midlands, with three quarters of all reported cases in England being in the region.

Professor Semple, a consultant respiratory paediatrician, said the increase was "entirely down to lack of vaccination".

He said myths about the MMR vaccine being linked to autism had led to a decline in vaccine uptake and there had been a steady decline since 2015.

In 1998 researcher Andrew Wakefield wrongly claimed the two were connected. His work was later dismissed, and Mr Wakefield was struck off by the General Medical Council in 2010.

Professor Semple said health professionals in Merseyside were working with community groups, including women's groups, faith groups and schools, to encourage vaccination.

"This is an entirely preventable disease. The vaccine is 97% effective," he said.

He added if vaccination levels were above 95% of population it would "stop transmission and... eradicate the disease".