Wigan has been hit hardest by a measles outbreak across Greater Manchester, with the North West seeing a huge rise in cases during the first three months of this year.
By the end of March, 80 cases were confirmed in the county with 55 of them in Wigan.
The potential epidemic has led Public Health England, NHS England and the Department of Health, to launch a catch-up programme to increase MMR vaccination uptake in children and teenagers.
Dr Rosemary McCann is the Interim Director from the Greater Manchester Health Protection Unit.
She said: “I can’t stress enough the importance of parents in Wigan making sure their children have both doses of the MMR vaccine, which gives life-long protection.
“It’s more important than ever to make sure vaccinations are fully up to date.”
More than 90% of Children in the Ashton, Leigh and Wigan area have had both MMR doses by their fifth birthday – which means that 366 have not.
Dr McCann said: “There are still too many children, teenagers and young adults who are not vaccinated who remain vulnerable. It’s not too late for these groups.”
The catch-up programme aims to vaccinate as many unvaccinated and partially vaccinated 10-16 year-olds as possible before the next school year starts.
In 1998 a study published by Dr Andrew Wakefield claimed there was a link between the MMR vaccine and autism and bowel disease.
Although the paper was later discredited, it led to controversy and vaccination rates fell.
Government officials estimate that approximately around 300,000 10-16 year-olds are not vaccinated.
Dr Paul Turner, Wigan Council’s public health consultant said: “Measles is highly infectious and children who have never received MMR immunisation are at high risk of catching it.
“Those who catch measles have a one in four chance of being admitted to hospital, a one in six chance of developing a complication, and a one in 500 chance of dying.
“I cannot emphasise enough that measles is potentially a very dangerous infection.”
Measles is a highly infectious viral illness which can lead to serious complications, including meningitis, pneumonia, blindness and in very severe cases people have died from the illness.
There have been no deaths caused by measles in Greater Manchester so far, but a man’s death in the badly affected South of Wales is believed to have been caused by measles.
Gareth Williams, 25, had measles at the time of his death.
If the virus is found to be the cause of his death he will be the first person in the UK to die from the illness since 2008.
Further investigations are being undertaken by the Swansea Coroner to establish whether this is the case.
The virus is contained in tiny droplets that come out of the nose and mouth when an infected individual coughs or sneeze and is developed when a person unknowingly ingests these droplets.
Spending as little as 15 minutes in the same room as a person with measles can be enough to contract the virus.
Initial symptoms of measles include cold-like symptoms, red eyes and sensitivity to light, and fever and greyish white spots in the mouth and throat.
A red-brown blotchy rash appears a few days after initially contracting the virus.
Dr McCann urged people to speak to their GP practice staff if they are unsure about whether they have been vaccinated.
For more information, please visit: www.nhs.uk/conditions/measles.
Image courtesy of Channel4 News, via YouTube, with thanks.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
