Wales measles outbreak approaches 700 cases, fingers pointed at discredited Wakefield Study
According to an agency news release, at least 6,000 children remain unvaccinated in the county of Swansea and parents, carers and communities continue to be urged to ensure that all children receive the two doses of the MMR vaccine needed to provide protection against measles.
Measles Image/CDC
Dr Marion Lyons, Director of Health Protection for Public Health Wales, told BBC radio “the epidemic centred around Swansea is a result of a 10 to 15 year “legacy” of concern about the MMR (measles mumps rubella) jab.”
This is in reference to the discredited report by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, which purported a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The 1998 study was discredited and in 2010, The Lancet retracted the 12-year-old study, which was called an “elaborate fraud”.
Dr Lyons advises the public: “Measles cannot be taken lightly because you can never tell who will go on to develop the more serious complications of pneumonia or encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). MMR vaccination offers the only protection against these complications.
“A simple and safe jab from your GP will protect your child’s health, could save their life, and will help protect other children too. It is the only precaution you can take at this worrying time, and we have plenty of stocks of the jab, so I would urge parents to make arrangements with their GP now.
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“The MMR jab is recommended by the World Health Organization, UK Department of Health and Public Health Wales as the most effective and safe way to protect children against measles. The alarming numbers of cases of measles and continuing spread of the disease in Wales illustrates how vital it is for parents to get their children vaccinated.”
“Nowhere in Wales is safe from measles and I think that is true of the U.K. as a whole,” Evans said.
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