Anti-vaxxers ‘behind alarming drop in number of children having MMR’

Struck off: Andrew Wakefield's 1998 article wrongly linked the MMR vaccine with autism
Jeremy Selwyn
Ross Lydall @RossLydall7 February 2019

Childhood vaccination rates in ­London are continuing to fall amid concerns about the spread of “anti-vaxxer” misinformation about the safety of jabs.

Only 81.2 per cent had received the first MMR vaccination by the time they were two, according to the most recent figures from Public Health England (PHE).

There were also falls in the proportion of babies receiving the diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Hib and Hepatitis B “six-in-one” vaccine, the rotavirus oral vaccine and the Meningitis B jab.

The MMR figures, for the three months to September last year, were down on the 85.1 per cent rate in ­London in 2017-18, which was already the lowest in England. MMR protects against measles, mumps and rubella.

Experts told the Standard that anti-vaccination propaganda was adding to problems caused by the capital’s higher mobility rates, which can lead to notifications from GPs being missed.

Last month a Royal Society for Public Health report warned that social media was a “breeding ground for misleading information and negative messaging around vaccination” and called for an online crackdown on “fake news”.

Its survey of 2,600 UK parents found that almost one in 10 had chosen not to give a child the MMR vaccine. The most common reason was fear of side-effects.

Opposition to vaccines has grown across Europe. In the first half of last year 41,000 measles cases were reported on the continent with 37 deaths. There were 4,042 cases in Italy and 9,076 in Romania, and 10,082 cases of mumps in Spain.

The “anti-vaxxer” movement in the US is thought to have gained ground after Donald Trump tweeted the belief that vaccines cause autism. This dates to a discredited and now withdrawn article by Andrew Wakefield in 1998 which wrongly linked the MMR vaccine with autism.

Many measles cases in England have been among the so-called “Wakefield generation” of teen­agers and young adults who were not vaccinated as children and then contracted the disease while travelling abroad.

Dr Doug Brown, chief executive of the British Society for Immunology (BSI), said the anti-vaxxing movement “definitely remains a concern”.

He said: “There is a spectrum of vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine views. We are aware of the growth in anti-vaccine views in countries around Europe, such as Italy and France.

“We need to ensure people have access to evidence-based, accurate information. There could be complacency out there as well. Because vaccines are so effective, they have pretty much wiped out diseases that were pretty common a couple of decades ago.

“We don’t want to scaremonger to get a reaction to have people vaccinate, but we do want to give people the facts. These are real diseases, and with complications that can lead to death.”

Figures obtained by the Standard reveal that GPs reported a 53 per cent year-on-year increase in suspected measles cases in England and Wales, up from 1,693 in 2017 to 2,599 cases last year, though only 913 have been confirmed as measles by laboratory tests to date.

Coverage of 95 per cent is needed to ensure “herd” immunity to prevent infectious diseases spreading among communities. MMR coverage has declined for four successive years across England, with 91.2 per cent having the first dose and 87.2 per cent having the second dose, according to figures for 2017-18.

The first MMR jab is administered at 12 months, and the second between three years four months and five years. A total of 74.8 per cent of London five-year-olds had received both doses by last September. This was up on the 72.2 per cent in the previous three months.

There was a measles outbreak among the Orthodox Jewish community in north Hackney last October. Up to 50 people were infected and two children had to be treated in hospital. GPs in Hackney were able to halt the outbreak by holding vaccination clinics in the community, including on Sundays. They found residents queuing up to take part.

Public Health England said the vaccination figures for London were “under-estimated” due to problems with data collection.

Dr Deborah Turbitt, deputy director for PHE London, said: “While rates of vaccination are lower in London than other parts of England, there has not been a statistically significant decline in rates in the capital.

“London has population movement of 10 per cent each year between boroughs, and a third of children will have moved house at least once by the time they are one.

“As children move, families may not register with a new GP, so invitations to appointments will not go to the correct address.”

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