New Scientist Australian Edition – 24 August 2019

24 August 2019 | New Scientist | 5

FOLLOWING 231 confirmed cases

of infection in the first three

months of the year, the UK has

lost its measles-free status with

the World Health Organization.

Prime minister Boris Johnson

has called for health leaders to

renew their efforts to ensure that

95 per cent of people have had

two doses of the measles, mumps

and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The World Health Organization

recommends that 95 per cent

of people need to be vaccinated

against measles to achieve herd

immunity, which stops the

infection spreading through

populations. Recent figures

suggest that only 87.2 per cent

of UK children have received

the second dose.

“Measles is one of the most

infectious diseases known to

man – only one person travelling

back to an area with lower

vaccination rates can lead to an

outbreak,” says Mary Ramsay of

government agency Public Health

England. “Anyone who has not

received two doses of MMR

vaccine is always at risk.”

To improve vaccination rates,

NHS England will write to all

family doctors urging them to

promote “catch-up” vaccination

programmes. There are also

plans to update advice on the UK

National Health Service website

to specifically address misleading

information about vaccines. Social

media companies are expected

to be called to a summit to discuss

how they can promote accurate

information about vaccination.

Amid an increasing focus on

digitising the NHS (see page 9),

a strategy being developed by the

Department of Health and Social

Care is likely to ask the NHS to

find technological solutions to

identify those who have missed a

vaccination, and to make it easier

to book vaccine appointments.

“From reassuring parents about

the safety of vaccines, to making

sure people are attending

follow-up appointments, we can

and must do more to halt the

spread of infectious, treatable

diseases in modern-day Britain,”

Johnson said on Monday.

Junior health minister Jo

Churchill told BBC Radio 4 that the

NHS and UK government need to

work with social media companies

so that “misinformation is taken

down, and that we give people the

correct information that they can

help keep their children safe”.

She said the government is

working to make sure there would

be no shortages of drugs following

Brexit. “On the measles vaccine,

there are buffer stocks in place and

I don’t see any issue with supply.” ❚

Three years after the virus was eliminated from the country,

the UK has lost its “measles-free” status

Measles resurgent in UK

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