Measles immunity gap

Despite 10 percent of school age children having no measles vaccinations and 104 locally-acquired cases recorded in the first six months of the year, a governmental risk assessment reported that, based on several factors, ‘the risk of widespread transmission of measles, leading to a measles epidemic across the UK is considered low’. There is however ‘a high risk of imported cases leading to outbreaks in specific population groups’, particularly those with low vaccination rates and in high density districts such as in London and other inner-city areas. Without an improvement in measles vaccination rates there is the potential for ‘an outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,000 cases’ in London. In related news, a vaccination drive is underway in Kenya’s Mombasa County in response to an outbreak in Mvita and Likoni sub-counties. And at least 700 children aged between five and 10 years who arrived in South Sudan after fleeing the conflict in Sudan are receiving treatment for measles infections in Bentui, 31 have died. Read more