Quantcast
Published On: Wed, Mar 27th, 2013

Wales measles outbreak shoots up to 432, health officials urge vaccination

In just the past week, Public Health Wales has reported 116 cases of measles, bringing the total number in the current outbreak that centers around Swansea to 432, according to a Public Health Wales new release Tuesday.

Health officials say the number of cases have doubled in the past few weeks.

CDC/ Debora Cartagena

CDC/ Debora Cartagena

Although cases have been reported across Wales, the majority are in Abertawe Bro Morgannwg, Powys and Hywel Dda and Local Health Board areas. The outbreak of this highly infectious and potentially fatal virus shows no signs of fading.

The likelihood that unvaccinated children anywhere across the country will come into contact with those already infected is increasing every day.  Those not vaccinated are highly likely to catch the disease and it is just a matter of time before a child is left with serious and permanent complications such as eye disorders, deafness or brain damage, or dies.
Public Health Wales is urging parents of all children aged between one and 18 in Wales who have not been fully vaccinated to contact their GP for advice and to arrange vaccination as soon as possible.
Dr Marion Lyons, Director of Health Protection for Public Health Wales, said: “Measles is now spreading at an alarming rate across areas of Wales.  Worryingly there are still tens of thousands of susceptible children across Wales, yet our weekly monitoring of vaccination rates shows only a slight increase in numbers receiving MMR jabs.
“The risk to unvaccinated children in Wales is increasing as the disease spreads.  You only need one or two people who haven’t had the vaccination in a community to put at risk babies, toddlers and anyone else who is vulnerable, such as children with leukaemia who cannot have the vaccination and pregnant women who haven’t been vaccinated.
“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 time, and I would urge parents to contact their GP today to get their children’s MMR vaccinations up to date.”

 

On the DISPATCH: Headlines  Local  Opinion

Subscribe to Weekly Newsletter

* indicates required
/ ( mm / dd ) [ALL INFO CONFIDENTIAL]

About the Author

- Writer, Co-Founder and Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch. Robert has been covering news in the areas of health, world news and politics for a variety of online news sources. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the website, Outbreak News Today and hosts the podcast, Outbreak News Interviews on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify Robert is politically Independent and a born again Christian Follow @bactiman63

Leave a comment

XHTML: You can use these html tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

like_us_on_facebook

 

The Global Dispatch Facebook page- click here

Movie News Facebook page - click here

Television News Facebook page - click here

Weird News Facebook page - click here 

DISPATCH RADIO

dispatch_radio

THE BRANDON JONES SHOW

brandon_jones_show-logo

Archives