MORE than 1,000 children in North East Lincolnshire have not had potentially life-saving MMR jabs, it has been revealed.
Today GPs across the borough will begin to contact families of 1,056 children, between the ages of 10 and 16, who have not completed their course of the controversial vaccine and are more at risk of contracting measles.
They are the generation who were due for the jab at the time of the since discredited report linking it to autism, which health experts say is probably a significant factor.
They say half of these youngsters only had the initial dose when under the age of two – but not their pre-school booster.
The other half have had no MMR vaccinations at all.
These latest figures come in the wake of a catch-up campaign launched nationally by the Department of Health and expected to cost £20 million – coinciding with the outbreak in Wales.
Dr Marcia Pathak, of Raj Medical Centre in Laceby Road, is the lead for women and children's services for the General Practice Commissioning Consortia across North East Lincolnshire.
She says a local catch-up programme targeting children under the age of five had already started in the borough.
"GPs already highlighted a problem so we began contacting families of children under the age of two and those under the age of five", she said.
"We need to have 95 per cent of children vaccinated with the MMR jab to be safe from an outbreak of measles occurring.
"Last year only 89 per cent of those under two years had the jab but this is now up to 97 per cent – similarly about 90 per cent of those under five last year had the jab but this now stands at 94 per cent.
"We still have work to do but more children are being protected."
Dr Pathak was at a special meeting this week where further plans were discussed to tackle older children who have not had the jab.
She said: "At the meeting we were told how many people between the ages of 10 and 16 had not had the jab.
"It will now be down to GPs to contact parents of these children, but if this fails then we will look to turn to school nurses.
"I am pleased to say there have been no official cases of measles confirmed in North East Lincolnshire.
"We are doing all we can to prevent a situation like in Swansea, where a severe outbreak of measles occurred."
Within the Lincolnshire county boundary, there have been five confirmed cases of measles.
A four-month campaign has been launched there to give 10,000 children aged between 10 and 16 the vaccination.
A four-month campaign has been launched to give 10,000 Lincolnshire school pupils the controversial MMR jab. Until September, children aged between 10 and 16 are being offered the jab. There have already been five cases of measles in Lincolnshire this year, compared to eight in the whole of 2012. Doctors are acting to avoid Lincolnshire suffering a measles epidemic similar to the fatal outbreak in Swansea. Dr Tony Hill, director of public health at the county council, said measles can lead to brain damage and death. "I strongly urge anyone who has not had the MMR vaccine to get it done," he said. "The last thing we want is an outbreak of measles in Lincolnshire. "People underestimate the consequences of measles. They can be severe. There has already been a death in Swansea and I expect there will be more. "The long-term consequences can be horrible – like brain damage, neurological problems and even death. "It is a serious problem and we must prevent an outbreak from happening as soon as we can. "GPs will have records of all the people who missed their vaccination." The combined vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella was introduced in 1988. Parents are invited to vaccinate their youngsters at 13 months and once again before they start school.
The initial symptoms of measles may include: - Cold-like symptoms - Red eyes - Fever and greyish white spots in the mouth and throat - After a few days a red-brown spotty rash will appear. It usually starts behind the ears, then spreads around the head and neck before spreading to the legs and the rest of the body. Contact your GP if you think you have symptoms of measles.
