UK Confirms Declining Measles Vaccination Rates

A new statistical report co-authored with the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKSHA) found childhood vaccination coverage statistics decreased for England in 2021-22.

Announced on September 29, 2022, data related to the 13 routine vaccinations offered to all children up to five years decreased from 0.2% to 1.1% last year.

For example, the proportion of children who received their second dose of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine by age five in 2021-22 was 85.7%, a decrease from 86.6% the year before.

Prof Helen Bedford, Professor of Child Public Health, Institute of Child Health, UCL, commented in a separate news article, "The U.K. has a highly successful childhood vaccination program which resulted in many once-common diseases such as measles, becoming vanishingly rare."

"Due to the measures brought in to reduce social contact during the pandemic, we saw infection rates drop to extremely low levels."

"However, these infections have not gone away."

"The reported decline in vaccine uptake in 21/22 compared with previous years is of great concern."

"However, this decline comes as little surprise given the difficulties for some parents accessing immunization services during the pandemic."

"But now we are back to normal, leaving us with the double whammy of many children being unprotected and the inevitability of disease rates increasing."

"In this situation, as night follows day, significant disease outbreaks are likely."

"Measles disease is a particular concern as it is so highly infectious that any small decline in vaccine uptake results in outbreaks."

"Fortunately, it is never too late to be vaccinated."

"No child needs to face the potentially serious consequences of a vaccine-preventable disease," concluded Bedford's comments on September 29, 2022.

The U.S. CDC reported for the 2020-2021 school year, measles vaccination coverage was 93.9% for two doses of the MMR vaccine. 

Furthermore, the CDC says most measles cases in the U.S. originate from international travel. Therefore, it is critical for all international travelers to be protected against measles, regardless of their destination.

As of September 1, 2022, a total of 13 measles cases were reported by five U.S. jurisdictions this year.

The MMR vaccine protects against all three diseases, and two doses offer 97% protection against measles.

The MMR®-II vaccine is available at most clinics and pharmacies in the USA.

And the U.S. FDA Approved the Priorix vaccine in June 2022 for individuals one year of age and older.

Other measles vaccine news is posted at PrecisionVaccinations.com/Measles.

Note: This article was manually translated and curated for mobile readership.