A mother whose eleven-month-old son was rushed to hospital with measles has called for the MMR vaccine to be made available to children before the age of one.
Kelly Smart, whose son Oscar was taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital after showing symptoms of the highly contagious disease, said that it was ‘frustrating’ that it ‘wasn’t an option’ for him to have been given a first dose of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccination.
In Britain, children are given the vaccination in two doses. The first is offered at one-year-old, with a booster given at three-years-old and four months.
Eleven-month-old Oscar had been due to have his dose the following month.
‘It felt like every time he was blinking there were more dots appearing down his body,’ Ms Smart told Sky News, referring to the tell-tale red rash that appears on those that have contracted the illness.
Kelly Smart and her son Oscar, who contracted measles. Ms Smart is calling for the MMR vaccine to be offered to children below the age of one
The Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine, better known by its acronym MMR, is offered in two doses to children aged one and three-years and four months
Britain is currently battling a wave of measles cases, concentrated in the West Midlands, following years of declining uptake for the MMR vaccine
Once paramedics arrived, Oscar was ‘instantly’ taken to hospital and was treated in an isolation ward. He was running a high fever.
‘He just looked awful, his eyes were swollen, his top lip was swollen, he was pale,’ Ms Smart recalled. Oscar is now recovering.
The UK is currently battling a measles outbreak that has concerned health professionals.
The UK Health Security Agency has declared a national incident and warned last week of ‘further outbreaks’ without ‘urgent action taken to increase MMR uptake in areas at greatest risk.’
There have been 216 confirmed cases of measles and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands between October 1 and January 18. Over 80% have been in Birmingham.
There are thought to be some 3.4m people under the age of 16 at risk from contracting measles, due to a declining uptake in MMR vaccination.
‘We’re at a point where there’s a very large susceptible population of children,’ Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, the chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation told The Guardian. He added that a vaccination rate of over 95% is required ‘to keep measles at bay’.
The percentage of children aged five having had a full course of the MMR vaccination has declined to 84.5%, according to health data, the lowest level in over a decade.
In 2017, the World Health Organisation had declared the UK measles-free. This status was rescinded within two years. The UN body warned recently of a thirty-fold increase in cases across Europe.
Debate about the particularly quick rise in measles cases and declining vaccine uptake in the UK has focussed attention on logistical difficulties for parents, suspicion of vaccines generally, and NHS overstretch.
Uptake of MMR has shrunk to its lowest levels in over a decade admit concern that babies born during the pandemic may have missed crucial medical windows
Oscar was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which saw some 50 children needing treatment for the virus in the last month
There are also concerns that children born during the pandemic may have missed their initial or second dose of MMR, requiring them to catch-up.
Children born during the pandemic are now older than the standard age-range that are seen by doctors for regular vaccinations.
In 2021, according to the UK Health Security Agency, there were only 360 cases of measles reported across the country. There were 1,603 in 2023. The majority of these cases were in children under the age of 10.
The NHS has been rolling out ‘pop-up’ vaccination centres in areas most affected by measles.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins appealed to parents to take their children for vaccination.
‘It is completely safe,’ she said. ‘There are two types of vaccination which can help people who may be worried about pork products,’ she added.
‘We can absolutely help you get vaccinated to help the whole community.’