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| Measles: Make MMR jab mandatory' call by US expert | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| As a measles epidemic in south Wales continues to spread at an "alarming rate" an expert urged for mandatory vaccinations to be considered. | |
| Dr Paul Offit, based in America, told BBC Newsnight that mandatory vaccinations of children in the US had prevented similar outbreaks there. | |
| His comments came as latest figures showed the number of cases of measles in and around Swansea had risen to 620. | |
| Public Health Wales (PHW) said there were no signs of a slow down in cases. | |
| Speaking on Newsnight, Dr Offit said Britain would benefit from vaccinations being made mandatory as is the case in America. | |
| 'Needlessly suffering' | |
| People in the United States can still claim exemption on philosophical or religious grounds but Dr Paul Offit said it still increased vaccination rates. | |
| "If we didn't mandate vaccines I think we would suffer in many ways what's going on in Europe now," Dr Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said. | |
| "Many children are needlessly suffering this disease and being hospitalised by this disease and occasionally being killed which I think is unconscionable. | |
| "In this country we just don't think its your inalienable right to catch and transmit a potentially fatal infection and so we at least put that one hoop you have to jump through which is mandatory vaccination." | |
| Meanwhile health officials dealing with the outbreak in the Swansea area said despite 1,700 people being vaccinated with the MMR jab at drop-in clinics on the weekend, the spread of the disease was still rising. | |
| Experts said they were not seeing enough children aged 10 to 17 coming forward for the jab. | |
| PHW estimate 6,000 children have still not been vaccinated, with the outbreak still not peaking. | PHW estimate 6,000 children have still not been vaccinated, with the outbreak still not peaking. |
| Parents across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend are being urged to get their children vaccinated with GPs. | Parents across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend are being urged to get their children vaccinated with GPs. |
| Dr Marion Lyons, director of health protection for PHW, warned there was no sign of the outbreak, which began last November, easing. | Dr Marion Lyons, director of health protection for PHW, warned there was no sign of the outbreak, which began last November, easing. |
| "We're getting a lot of new cases in this week," Dr Lyons told BBC Radio Wales. | "We're getting a lot of new cases in this week," Dr Lyons told BBC Radio Wales. |
| "And because so many are unvaccinated still, you know they will infect so many more that we will see next week and the week after because of the long incubation period. | "And because so many are unvaccinated still, you know they will infect so many more that we will see next week and the week after because of the long incubation period. |
| "It is still rising at an alarming rate." | "It is still rising at an alarming rate." |
| At risk | |
| More hospital drop-in clinics will be held in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend on Saturday, targeting children and adolescents who did not have their scheduled MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jabs as babies and toddlers. | More hospital drop-in clinics will be held in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend on Saturday, targeting children and adolescents who did not have their scheduled MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jabs as babies and toddlers. |
| Some GP surgeries are also laying on special vaccination sessions, while children will be given the jab at schools in the outbreak area when they return next week after the Easter break. | Some GP surgeries are also laying on special vaccination sessions, while children will be given the jab at schools in the outbreak area when they return next week after the Easter break. |
| Dr Lyons said it is the older children who are now most at risk from the disease because parents have taken babies and toddlers for vaccination in recent days. | Dr Lyons said it is the older children who are now most at risk from the disease because parents have taken babies and toddlers for vaccination in recent days. |
| "The problem is we are still not seeing enough of the older children coming forward," the expert said. | "The problem is we are still not seeing enough of the older children coming forward," the expert said. |
| "Most of our cases are occurring in the 10 to 17 year olds. That's the population where a lot of them haven't had the vaccine. | "Most of our cases are occurring in the 10 to 17 year olds. That's the population where a lot of them haven't had the vaccine. |
| "They'll go back to school next week, they'll be playing together, socialising together and they will spread it. | "They'll go back to school next week, they'll be playing together, socialising together and they will spread it. |
| "That's the biggest problem we have - getting the schoolchildren vaccinated." | "That's the biggest problem we have - getting the schoolchildren vaccinated." |
| Discredited research | |
| She said the public health trust has written to every parent about vaccination. | She said the public health trust has written to every parent about vaccination. |
| "I think its important now that these parents do come forward. We are seeing them but not in sufficient numbers, they need to be coming in thousands, not two and three hundreds." | "I think its important now that these parents do come forward. We are seeing them but not in sufficient numbers, they need to be coming in thousands, not two and three hundreds." |
| Concerns over the safety of the MMR jab were raised in the late 1990s when a surgeon published a since discredited paper in The Lancet suggesting MMR was linked to an increased risk of autism. | Concerns over the safety of the MMR jab were raised in the late 1990s when a surgeon published a since discredited paper in The Lancet suggesting MMR was linked to an increased risk of autism. |
| That paper, and subsequent media coverage, led to immunisation rates plummeting. | That paper, and subsequent media coverage, led to immunisation rates plummeting. |
| A Swansea newspaper which joined the anti-MMR campaign at that time has defended itself against claims that it was to blame for the current outbreak. | A Swansea newspaper which joined the anti-MMR campaign at that time has defended itself against claims that it was to blame for the current outbreak. |
| Jonathan Roberts, editor of the South Wales Evening Post, said the campaign had been hard-hitting but reflected parents' concerns at the time about the safety of the vaccine. | Jonathan Roberts, editor of the South Wales Evening Post, said the campaign had been hard-hitting but reflected parents' concerns at the time about the safety of the vaccine. |
| Dr Lyons also said she did not believe parents were concerned any longer about the "myth" surrounding the MMR jab. | Dr Lyons also said she did not believe parents were concerned any longer about the "myth" surrounding the MMR jab. |
| "I don't think that is the issue now," she said. | "I don't think that is the issue now," she said. |
| But she said parents of normally healthy older children, who don't visit GPs and miss spot-checks, can forget they are at risk of measles. | But she said parents of normally healthy older children, who don't visit GPs and miss spot-checks, can forget they are at risk of measles. |
| "I think it is a case of just reminding the parents that their children are just as vulnerable as the little ones," she said. | "I think it is a case of just reminding the parents that their children are just as vulnerable as the little ones," she said. |
| "Really to tackle this outbreak and to see it peak and slow down would need that older cohort vaccinated." | "Really to tackle this outbreak and to see it peak and slow down would need that older cohort vaccinated." |
| The total number of measles cases in the Swansea area now stands just two short of the total in the outbreak in the north west of England in the year to February 2013. | The total number of measles cases in the Swansea area now stands just two short of the total in the outbreak in the north west of England in the year to February 2013. |
| Most of these cases were on Merseyside, in Greater Manchester and west Lancashire. | Most of these cases were on Merseyside, in Greater Manchester and west Lancashire. |