Great Britain is in the middle of a measles outbreak, with 20 confirmed cases of the disease and another 47 children still waiting for laboratory tests to confirm whether or not they have contracted the disease.
Great Britain has been seized by anti-vaccination hysteria over the past couple of years by people who claim that the MR vaccine is associated with autism. So far there is no evidence at all to support that contention, but many parents have refused to allow their children to be vaccinated nonetheless.
In this measles outbreak, 18 of the 20 confirmed children with measles did not receive the vaccination. In the other 31 suspected cases, only seven of those children had received the vaccine.
Vaccination rates in parts of Great Britain have fallen precipitously as the anti-vaccination campaign has continued. To protect against a measles outbreak, about 90 percent of children need to be vaccinated. The national average in Great Britain is 84 percent, but in some areas of London the vaccination rate hovers at a dangerously low 65 percent. Areas with vaccination rates that are consistently below 80 percent run a high risk of an outbreak.
Two years ago, thanks to low vaccination rates, a measles outbreak occurred in Dublin, Ireland, that killed two children.
Sources:
Fears of measles outbreak. The BC, February 5, 2002.
Measles outbreak fears spread. The BC, January 4, 2002.
Measles father – ‘still unsure about MR’. The BC, February 1, 2002.
Measles outbreak gathers pace. The BC, February 13, 2002.