By Emily Stearn, Health Reporter For Mailonline
12:12 16 Jan 2024, updated 13:32 16 Jan 2024
Unvaccinated children in the West Midlands are being forced to isolate for up to three weeks amid the region’s biggest measles outbreak since the 1990s.
More than 300 cases have been identified since October, leading to 50 children being admitted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for treatment in the past month.
Health chiefs, who have already declared a ‘national incident’, blamed low uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
They urged parents to check their kids have had both doses of the jab, or risk them becoming seriously ill from the virus and passing it on to others.
Unvaccinated children who have been in contact with an infected person are being forced to stay at home for up to three weeks in a bid to contain the virus.
MailOnline has today created an interactive map that reveals the number of cases detected in each local authority across England Wales in December.
In a letter to parents, Birmingham City Council warned that pupils who have not had the vaccine — given to children aged one, followed by a second dose at three years and four months — will be told to isolate for 21 days if they are exposed to measles.
The warning, posted on January 4 as children returned to classrooms, stated: ‘Anyone unvaccinated who is exposed to someone with measles may be advised to isolate for three weeks.
‘This would disrupt their learning or work and could happen repeatedly.’
The letter, sent by the council’s assistant director for public health, Dr Mary Orhewere, noted that GPs can dish out catch-up doses of the MMR jab, which offers life-long immunity against the three viruses it protects against.
Two doses offer up to 99 per cent protection against measles, mumps and rubella, which can lead to meningitis, hearing loss and problems during pregnancy.
Additionally, catch-up vaccination clinics for parents, staff and pupils will be held in schools across the West Midlands.
The three-week isolation advice was first issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in 2019.
But worries about low uptake and a surge in cases prompted councils, including some in London, to distribute a reminder about the policy in recent months.
Under the guidance, children are banned from school and told not to mix with other children and those considered vulnerable — babies, pregnant women and those who are immunosuppressed. But they can still leave their homes for other activities.
Health chiefs say that while it is disruptive, the three-week isolation prevents measles from taking off among children — which could see more become seriously unwell.
Measles is so infectious that nine in ten unjabbed children in a classroom will catch it if just one classmate has the virus.
The UKHSA said it issues the advice on a ‘case-by-case’ basis after talks between council officials and schools.
It said: ‘There have been children who have had to stay off school because of being a contact with a person with measles and being unvaccinated.
‘If they have had one dose they can stay in school, but if they have had neither they are asked to stay off.’
It comes after Dr Naveed Syed, a consultant in communicable disease control at the UKHSA, based in the West Midlands, yesterday warned he was seeing ‘cases of measles rising every day’.
He added: ‘Uptake of MMR in the region is much lower than needed to protect the population, which is giving this serious disease a chance to get a foothold in our communities.’
At least 95 per cent of the population needs to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks, under public health guidance.
But nationally, the proportion of five-year-olds who are fully jabbed has fallen to 84.5 per cent — the lowest in more than a decade. The trend has partly been blamed on the rise of anti-vaxx beliefs.
Experts, however, have also pointed to the pandemic which led some children to miss out on routine vaccinations, as well as rising pressures on primary care and a reduction in health visitors.
UKHSA data shows there were 1,603 suspected measles cases in England and Wales in 2023.
The figure is more than twice as high as the 735 logged in 2022 and an almost five-fold rise compared to the 360 cases reported in 2021.
The suspected cases are based on official notifications by doctors making a diagnosis from clinical symptoms.
While not all are later confirmed to be measles by laboratory tests, health chiefs warn that levels are clearly rising.
Latest NHS Digital also shows that up to four in ten children in parts of England haven’t had both MMR jabs by the time they turn five.
Just 56.3 per cent of youngsters that age in Hackney, east London, were fully-protected against measles, mumps and rubella in 2022/23.
After Hackney came Camden (63.6 per cent) and Enfield (64.8 per cent).
Outside of London, the lowest uptake rates for both doses among five year olds were logged in Liverpool (73.6 per cent), Manchester (74.5 per cent) and Birmingham (75.1 per cent).
Measles, which mostly produces flu like symptoms and a rash, can cause very serious and even fatal health complications if it spreads to the lungs or the brain.
One in five children who catch measles will need to go to hospital, with one in 15 developing serious complications like meningitis or sepsis.
Uptake of the MMR jab collapsed in the wake of study by the now discredited medic Andrew Wakefield which falsely linked the jabs to autism.
MMR uptake in England was about 91 per cent prior to Wakefield’s study being published but plummeted to 80 per cent in the aftermath.
Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
