SCORES of Jersey children could be at risk of contracting measles following an “alarming resurgence” of the disease across the UK and Europe, Health officials have warned.
Immunisation specialists are urging parents to ensure that their children have had both doses of the MMR vaccine, especially if they are travelling out of the Island during the half-term or Easter holidays.
Public Health officials organised an extra immunisation clinic at the General Hospital last weekend, and a further session is due to take place between 4.30pm and 6.30pm on Wednesday.
More than 42,200 cases were recorded in Europe last year, up from 941 in 2022, in an outbreak which the World Health Organisation says has been caused by fewer children having been jabbed during the Covid pandemic.
Measles often starts with a high fever and a rash. While this normally clears within ten days, complications can include pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and seizures.
Immunisations nurse specialist Victoria Vale said that her department was aware of “a pocket of children who have not received either one or both of the vaccine doses”. She warned that Jersey was particularly vulnerable to an outbreak owing to the high volume of people travelling to and from the Island.
The exact number is not known, but it is believed that at least 60 children have either not been jabbed at all or have had only one dose.
Mrs Vale has also urged Islanders to disregard misinformation on social media stemming from a discredited report by now-disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield in the 1990s which wrongly claimed a link between the jab and autism.
Mrs Vale said: “There is good coverage here, and over 95% of children have received one or both doses of the MMR vaccine, which does give us herd immunity and some protection for vulnerable people like pregnant women and people who can’t have the vaccine.
“However, we do have a transient society here with people moving in and out a lot, and a lot of travel between Jersey and London, where the outbreaks are, and around the world. We definitely wouldn’t want that 95% to drop.
“There have been no cases here yet, but with half-term and the Easter holidays coming up, we would really urge people to check their and their children’s vaccination history.”
She added that children needed both doses in order to have 98% protection against measles, saying: “I’m coming across people who have had the first vaccine and not the second. Perhaps some parents have forgotten or haven’t realised.”
Mrs Vale said that the push followed a “national incident” and several outbreaks in the UK and across Europe that “we are really worried about”.
“The outbreak that started mid-2023 has escalated, and in new updates this January, the UKHSA [UK Health Security Agency] are saying they are quite worried,” she added.
Mrs Vale added that the immunisations department was concerned about misinformation spreading on social media.
She said: “We do understand that that would make people worry but please give us a call if you’re worried or unsure whether to have [the vaccine] or not.
“We can come to your home to discuss the matter or have a conversation over the phone to dispel myths.
“We know that all the research studies that have been done by academics are of good standard and we know that these vaccines are safe and they they have been given to children.”
lThe immunisation nurse specialist is available on 445790.
