BBC - Measles Cases In England And Wales Top 1,000 For First Time In Decade [View All]

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Measles cases in England and Wales have topped 1,000 in a year for the first time in more than a decade, Health Protection Agency figures show. In the first 10 months of 2008 there were 1,049 cases, more than in the whole of 2007, the agency said. It said measles was spreading more easily because of the low uptake of the combined MMR jab over the past decade.

In Cheshire, an outbreak of more than 60 cases has prompted the launch of a programme to vaccinate 10,000 pupils. The decade of relatively low vaccination coverage was triggered by now-debunked research claims of a link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella jab and autism.

Public health experts say the growing number of children who are unprotected - about 3m or one in four have not had both MMR doses - means there is a real risk of an epidemic.

It is estimated this could result in between 30,000 and 100,000 cases of measles in England alone.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7753210.stm