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Appeal to parents to vaccinate their children

Public officials were last night urging parents to vaccinate their children against measles because of an increase in children being dignosed with the illness in the last 11 weeks.

This year so far there have been 480 confirmed cases of measles, compared to 2006 where there were 756 in the whole year.

According to the Health Protection Agency there have been 350 confirmed cases of measles this summer, a time when infections are generally at their lowest. The outbreaks were in the areas where there was a low take up of the MMR jab, the vaccination which immunises against Measles, Mumps and Rubella.

Measles is a highly infectious and dangerous disease and in April last year, a boy aged 13, from a travelling family in the north-west became the first person to die of the illness in 14 years.

The fears are that many cases of Measles are going undiagnosed, or are not being counted by the agency. One of the worst affected places to be hit is Hackney in East London where an estimated 150 cases have been diagnosed since June; 28 cases were reported last week alone. Ten children were admitted to hospital last week, suffering from Pneumonia and emergency clinics are urging parents to get their children vaccinated.

It is particularly worrying because school starts next week and infection can spread quickly when children are in close proximity to each other.

The triple MMR vaccination has become controversial because of research published by the Lancet journal, suggesting a link between the jab and autism and bowel disease. The Lancet later stated that researchers had failed to find a concrete link between the jab and these diseases.

Most medical practitioners agree that not having the jab puts your child at more risk from the affects of Measles, Mumps or Rubella. The MMR jab is usually given to babies sometime after the first birthday but many parents scared by the research results have decided against vaccinating.

Doctors are currently urging all parents to get their children vaccinated before school starts next week.

Measles is more common in traveller communities but cases are occuring now in unvaccinated school-children, or children returning from trips abroad.

Read our features for more information on the MMR jab, or on Measles, Mumps and Rubella.

Thanks to The Guardian 31/08/07