Worst Outbreak Of Measles 'Since 1988'

PA  |  Posted: 03/05/2012 11:01 Updated: 03/05/2012 11:03   PA

Measles

More than 200 confirmed cases of measles on Merseyside have contributed to the worst outbreak of the disease since 1988, according to the Health Protection Agency.

The independent body said there have been 214 laboratory-confirmed cases since January, while 92 probable cases are being investigated.

It is the worst outbreak in the metropolitan area since the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced in 1988 and at least 39 of the confirmed cases have needed treatment in hospital.

Half the cases registered on Merseyside so far this year are children under the age of five, with another 30% aged 15 or over.

The majority of the confirmed cases have been in Liverpool and neighbouring areas such as Knowsley and Sefton.

Measles is a "very infectious" illness which spreads quickly among children and adults who are not vaccinated, and can
lead to serious complications and, on rare occasions, death.

Symptoms include fever, cough, a runny nose, red eyes and a red rash.

Dr Roberto Vivancos, a consultant with the Health Protection Agency in Cheshire and Merseyside, said: "It is obvious from these statistics that people who are not fully vaccinated are not just at risk themselves, but they pose an infection risk to others, such as defenceless babies and toddlers who are too young to be vaccinated.

"Measles should not be treated lightly, but it is an avoidable illness and we strongly advise parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated.

"Our advice to unprotected teenagers and young adults is to arrange vaccination through your family doctor. It is never too late to be vaccinated."

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More than 200 confirmed cases of measles on Merseyside have contributed to the worst outbreak of the disease since 1988, according to the Health Protection Agency. The independent body said there h...
More than 200 confirmed cases of measles on Merseyside have contributed to the worst outbreak of the disease since 1988, according to the Health Protection Agency. The independent body said there h...
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12:44 AM on 05/25/2012
i ave to ask , how jabs did you get as a child
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11:41 PM on 05/10/2012
measles, yousles, I just think freckles are kind a cute.
Lets have more measles.
what happened to those virus clubs that were said to have existed when I were a lad?
pass it around, get it over and done with.
12:16 AM on 05/11/2012
...and possibly die while you're doing it. What fun!
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Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
01:32 PM on 05/11/2012
Let's se.... Measles: 20% need hospitalized, one in 10 gets pneumonia, one in a thousand gets encephalitis, and one in about 3-5 thousand dies.
There are plenty worse diseases, indeed!
Let's have meningococcal disease parties as well, then we can crow over the 20% mortality rate, since the antivaxers don't like kids getting vaccines for that either.
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03:12 PM on 05/11/2012
20% hospitalised. you are talking rollocks man, your stats are utter tosh. 10% pneumonia, more tosh. keep it coming. human race 100% mortality rate
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Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
10:57 PM on 05/10/2012
Neat video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkqrrJBhUcE
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nottonguetied
01:22 AM on 05/11/2012
Neat video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkqrrJBhUcE

OUTBREAKS ALWAYS FOLLOW THE JABBINGS
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
09:00 PM on 05/13/2012
WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING GARBAGE?
10:26 AM on 05/04/2012
What does it matter if we have vaccinations in this country and others don't, then we let them enter? Didn't it used to be called 'German Measles?'
Makalha
Opinions are not facts.
10:54 AM on 05/04/2012
German measles ( rubella ) is a different disease.
08:32 AM on 05/04/2012
No surprises then! The anti vaccine lobby won the day..helped and abetted by the charlatan Wakefield, who sponsored by an American comapny promoting single shot vaccines came up with the rubbish he had publishd. You know how many people he 'tested'? Fewer than twenty, but it didn't stop the hard of thinking to believe his 'research' was sound.

So all those saying that it's far better to NOT have vaccines, will no doubt I'm sure be saying the same if their child contracts measles and becomes blind or has problems with their CNS?

Oh, 'but why is MMR a better option?'' Because many parents wouldn't bother turning up for the any of the other two (or the follow up), so because of this and the better take up and effacy, far fewer (almost eradicated) kids contracted it..

NO vaccine works if only a few take it; so let's not get bogged down in that straw man argument.
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nottonguetied
01:23 AM on 05/11/2012
NO vaccine works if only a few take it; so let's not get bogged down in that straw man argument.

OH VACCINES WORK BUT WELL?
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Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
09:00 PM on 05/13/2012
VERY WELL!
01:12 AM on 05/04/2012
I think the following is true, but stand corrected if i am wrong.
If you are vacinated against a disease, then that immunity to the disease is not passed on to your children, so they have to be vaccinated.
If you caught a disease like measles or chickenpox, before vaccination became commonplace,
then your future children had some resistance to it.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
11:00 PM on 05/10/2012
Are you talking about passive transfer of maternal immunity?
This helps protect kids during the first few months of life only, and it happens with moms who have had the vaccine as well as moms who have had the natural disease.
By the time your kids are a few months old, they are vulnerable.
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nottonguetied
01:24 AM on 05/11/2012
Are you talking about passive transfer of maternal immunity?
This helps protect kids during the first few months of life only, and it happens with moms who have had the vaccine as well as moms who have had the natural disease.
By the time your kids are a few months old, they are vulnerable.

THE VACCINATED ARE ROBBED OF THE RIGHT TO PROTECT THE UNBORN
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nottonguetied
03:23 PM on 05/11/2012
Are you talking about passive transfer of maternal immunity?
This helps protect kids during the first few months of life only, and it happens with moms who have had the vaccine as well as moms who have had the natural disease.
By the time your kids are a few months old, they are vulnerable.

"NATURAL DISEASE"????????????????????????????
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nottonguetied
08:05 PM on 05/03/2012
typically on these sort of stories posters pretend to be doctors or nurses! alot of doctors and nurses would not let their children have the MMR!
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Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
11:01 PM on 05/10/2012
I work in the health sector.
I know of no nurses or doctors who haven't let their kids have the MMR.
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nottonguetied
01:06 AM on 05/11/2012
I work in the health sector.
I know of no nurses or doctors who haven't let their kids have the MMR.

and this is supposed to be a true claim?!
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nottonguetied
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12:48 PM on 05/03/2012
What we are seeing here is an outbreak affecting teenagers over the age of 15 and children under the age of 13 months who were too young to be vaccinated, or under 5 who have not yet received a booster. The age group now best protected appears to be the very age group that was once most susceptible, and also most likely to cope without lasting effects, while the age groups most susceptible to complications (adults and the very young) have now become the most vulnerable.
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nottonguetied
07:51 PM on 05/03/2012
What we are seeing here is an outbreak affecting teenagers over the age of 15 and children under the age of 13 months who were too young to be vaccinated, or under 5 who have not yet received a booster. The age group now best protected appears to be the very age group that was once most susceptible, and also most likely to cope without lasting effects, while the age groups most susceptible to complications (adults and the very young) have now become the most vulnerable.

OUTBREAKS ALWAYS FOLLOW VACCINATIONS
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08:07 PM on 05/03/2012
Indeed. For example, the only polio outbreaks in Europe in recent years have been directly vaccine-related.