Public Health Wales is urging parents to make sure their children receive the MMR vaccination as it investigates an outbreak of almost 190 reported cases of measles in Swansea and Neath-Port Talbot.
Parents are reminded that the only protection against this potentially fatal disease is receiving two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. Children should receive the first dose of the vaccine at 12 to 13 months of age and the second at three years and four months of age.
Parents of all children aged between one and 18 who have not been fully vaccinated should contact their GP for advice and arrange vaccination as soon as possible. Those whose vaccination record is unclear, or who have just received one dose of MMR, should also ensure that they contact their GP.
Since the outbreak started in November 2012, a total of 189 cases of measles have been diagnosed in individuals living in the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board area. Cases have been notified in 32 secondary and primary schools and nurseries across the area, with 20 cases notified in the last week alone.
The University Health Board and Public Health Wales are working closely together to combat the outbreak.
Dr Marion Lyons, Director of Health Protection for Public Health Wales, said: “We continue to be concerned at the number of cases of measles we are seeing in the Swansea and Neath-Port Talbot areas.
“We cannot emphasise enough that measles is an illness that can kill, or leave patients with permanent complications including severe brain damage, and the only protection is two doses of the MMR vaccination.
“As children have been admitted to hospital because of this outbreak of measles we fear it is only a matter of time before someone dies or is left permanently affected by measles.
“People most at risk of catching measles are children of school age who have not had two doses of MMR. We estimate that there are more than 8,500 school age children at risk of measles in the ABMU area at present due to their MMR status. Children should have their immunisation record, including MMR status, checked at the beginning of primary and secondary school and on leaving secondary school.”
Many people who catch measles will have a fever, cough, red eyes, and blocked nose and feel generally unwell. The blotchy rash appears a few days later beginning on the face and spreading downwards to the rest of the body over several days.
Typically, people will be infectious from the day before their first symptoms until four to five days after the appearance of the rash. Vaccination is the only effective way of protecting against measles. Unvaccinated children exposed to a case are very likely to contract the disease.
Parents of older children should be aware that if they remain unvaccinated, they are putting younger children at risk as well as themselves. Additionally they may well not be able to sit important exams, such as GCSE’s and A levels, if they were unwell with measles or excluded from school at that time.