Nothing to fear

Parents in Hull are urged to put safety first and have their children immunised against measles, mumps and rubella

If anyone can stress the importance of ensuring children have the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination, it's Alison Cockerill.
Having caught measles, as a five-year-old, from another child at her school in Potters Bar, in south east England, she knows how serious this highly contagious illness can be.
"Measles is a killer and I almost died from it," says Alison, who is now Hull City Council's health in schools programme manager.
Her role enables children and young people to stay healthy and well by learning about healthy lifestyles, including diet and the importance of regular physical activity to combat obesity.
"Measles made my body temperature rise to a critical level and I lost a lot of weight.
I was off school for weeks and the illness permanently affected my eyesight."
After her illness, Alison had to be taken to a London hospital every week for two years to have treatment on her eyes, but her vision has never fully recovered and she has to wear glasses or contact lenses at all times.
She says the experience deeply affected her mum, who now aged 80, still shudders at the memory of how close she came to losing her daughter.
"I was born just before the measles vaccination was made available in this country and so there was nothing my mum could have done to prevent it," she adds.
"However, there's now a generation of parents in Hull who have no collective memory of measles because they themselves have been vaccinated and don't know how serious it can be.
"But measles is a killer and if I had children of my own I wouldn't think twice about allowing them to have the MMR jab."

Scare stories

Meanwhile, many people in Hull may have seen media reports about the supposed link between MMR and autism, but now it has been conclusively proved that no link exists, health experts say.
And although the publicity hit the headlines several years ago, it created a national health scare and the effects are still being felt today.
It led to a fall in the number of MMR immunisations in Hull and across the country, which has increased the risk of breakouts of measles, mumps and rubella.
"I can reassure parents that there is nothing to fear concerning the MMR jab, it's safe," says Dr Kanan Pande of the Wolseley Medical Centre in Londesborough Street in west Hull, where 65 children have been immunised in the last three months.
"The research was carried out on a small sample of children, the findings of which have been thoroughly investigated and prove that the supposed link between MMR and autism is false."

Know the facts

• measles can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), pneumonia, seizures and death
• mumps can reduce fertility in men and women
• rubella, if contracted in the early weeks of pregnancy, can lead to deafness in the unborn child
• 500 million children in more than 100 countries have been safely given the MMR jab

Never too late

To prevent future measles, mumps, and rubella breakouts, almost every child in Hull must be immunised to create what health experts call "herd immunity" in the city.
The target is a 95 per cent immunisation rate for children, but in recent figures provided by NHS Hull, 81 per cent of five-year-olds in Hull had the MMR jab and 93 per cent of two-year-olds had been immunised.
Now parents whose children have not had the jab can take part in a catch-up immunisation programme to increase the uptake.
"Parents want the best for their children but many find it hard to know what to do, especially if they have seen all the negative publicity and heard the mixed messages about MMR in the past," says Kathleen Young, a nurse consultant in public health with NHS Hull.
"My advice is come and talk to us if your child missed out, because immunisation is in the best interests of the long term health of the child.
It's never too late to get your child vaccinated."

info

For more information on MMR consult your GP, call the NHS Hull immunisation team on 617732, speak to your health visitor or school nurse, or enquire at one of the 19 children's centres across the city.

Working in partnership
Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust tel. (01482) 344700