Check MMR vaccine records as measles cases rise, UKHSA urges parents

4th May 2023

Public health officials are urging parents to check their children are up to date with MMR vaccinations after signs of a rise in measles cases.

The latest figures from 1 January to 20 April 2023 show 49 cases of measles compared to 54 cases in the whole of 2022, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

Most of the cases have been reported in London, although some cases have been picked up across the country and some are linked to travel abroad, the data shows.

It follows a drop in the number of children who have had one or both doses of the MMR in recent years.

The uptake for the first dose of the MMR vaccination at two years in England is currently 89% and uptake of two doses by five years is 85% – both well below the 95% target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) to achieve and maintain elimination, the UKHSA said.

Pandemic impact on MMR

Routine childhood vaccinations fell globally during the pandemic and measles is now circulating in many countries around the world with WHO officials warning that Europe is likely to see a resurgence unless countries catch-up children who missed out.

Parents of young children and teenagers are being asked to check they are up to date with their MMR vaccines, particularly before they travel this summer or attend festivals and to contact their GP practice if they believe they have missed a dose.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: ‘We are calling on all parents and guardians to make sure their children are up to date with their two MMR doses.

‘It’s never too late to catch up, and you can get the MMR vaccine for free on the NHS whatever your age.’

She added: ‘Measles spreads very easily and can lead to complications that require a stay in hospital and on rare occasions can cause lifelong disability or death, so it is very concerning to see cases starting to pick up this year.’

‘Uptake falls, infections rise‘

Figures published in September last year showed no routine childhood vaccination met the 95% uptake target last year in England. But there has been particularly concern about MMR with catch up campaigns already launched last autumn.

NHS director of vaccinations and screening, Steve Russell, said: ‘The MMR vaccine has helped prevent the development of potentially life-threatening illness among millions, and it is clear that when uptake falls, infections rise, so I strongly urge parents to review the status of their child’s vaccinations so they can keep them and others protected from measles, mumps and rubella.’

Last month, UKHSA’s director of public health programmes Dr Mary Ramsay said that workload around vaccine delivery ‘fell purely onto general practice’ in the past decade due to the fragmentation of the NHS.

This news story was originally published by our sister publication Pulse.

Review shows no increased risk of allergic disease after childhood vaccination

28th July 2021

A review of studies found no evidence of an increased risk of allergic disease following the administration of common childhood vaccinations.

According to the World Allergy Organization, the allergy prevalence among the whole population ranges from 10-40%. Moreover, the number people in the UK with allergies, appears to be increasing by 5% every year. One possible cause of the increased prevalence of allergic disease is childhood vaccination although the available evidence is inconsistent. Nevertheless, any perception that childhood vaccination might increase the risk for the development of allergic diseases jeopardises the attainment of herd immunity and the attendant risk of outbreaks of the particular vaccine-controlled infection disease.

With gaps in the current evidence, a team from the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Community Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Kandy, Sri Lanka, decided to undertake a systemic review and meta-analysis to examine the relationship between childhood vaccination and allergy. The team performed a search of the main databases such as PubMed and EMBASE for original studies examining exposure (in this case childhood vaccination) and allergic outcome.

They restricted the review to randomised controlled trials and prospective cohort studies although did not exclude any studies where there were differences in the timing, number of doses or if the comparators were placebo, controlled vaccine or even no vaccine. The exposure of interest was defined as any childhood vaccination and the primary outcomes of interest were asthma/wheeze, rhino conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, atopic eczema, food allergy and allergic sensitisation.

The findings

A total of 42 eligible studies were included in the analysis covering vaccination with BCG, pertussis, MMR and DTP. This comprised 35 cohort studies and 7 randomised controlled trials. In their analysis, the authors found that none of the randomised trials found any evidence of an association between BCG or pertussis and allergic manifestations. In fact, two randomised trials observed a reduction in the risk of developing eczema (Risk ratio, RR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.73–0.93) but not for food allergy or asthma.

Among cohort studies, childhood vaccination against measles was also associated with a reduced risk of eczema (RR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.47–0.90), asthma (RR = 0.78) and a non-significant reduction in allergic sensitisation (RR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.61–1.01). There was a trend towards a protective effect of measles vaccination against asthma (RR = 0.97), eczema (RR = 0.70) but a slight increased risk for allergy, though none of these associations were statistically significant.

In discussing their findings, the authors noted that there was no clear evidence that childhood vaccination was associated with an increased risk of allergic disease for the commonly given immunisations. In fact, if anything, the opposite was true, with the data suggesting a small, but potentially protective role against the development of eczema, particularly for measles. They concluded that while more studies are required to confirm these findings, it was important to promote the continuation of childhood vaccination to prevent the development of vaccine-preventable disease.

Citation
Navaratna S et al. Childhood vaccination and allergy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Allergy 2021