Mark Probert
August 8th 03, 01:45 AM
Measles Cases on the Rise in Britain
By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON - Measles is posing a growing risk to children in Britain as
parents decide against vaccinations for fear of side effects, and
researchers warn the disease could become endemic, a constant threat to
health.
British researchers report Friday in the journal Science that the level
of vaccinated children in Britain has dropped below 80 percent and that
the nation is experiencing more frequent and larger outbreaks of measles.
Dr. Mary E. Ramsay of the Health Protection Agency, a co-author of the
study, said Thursday that the level of vaccination in Britain was 92
percent in 1995, but it has been falling steadily since.
"That is why we are concerned that we will have measles re-established
in the U.K.," she said.
Last year, there 308 cases of measles, a small number in a country the
size of Britain, but Ramsay said that is about three times the number
from 2001.
"The greater concern is that we are seeing larger outbreaks instead of
small clusters," said Ramsay. "That is consistent with the fact that the
level of protection in the population is declining."
Ramsay said the decline in inoculation against measles can be traced to
a series of papers that suggested a link between autism among children
and the combination vaccine for mumps, measles and rubella.
"That has caused much concern among parents, despite the fact that there
have been several large studies ... showing that there is no link
between the vaccine and autism," she said. "Parents are still concerned
about it and are turning down the vaccine they previously would have had."
The drop in vaccinations "has coincided with a number of large measles
outbreaks," the authors said in Science.
"In their attempt to avoid the perceived risk associated with
vaccination, parents' behavior collectively results in a substantial
increase in the real risk of exposure to measles," the study noted.
Dr. Samuel L. Katz, a Duke University pediatrics professor who is a
prominent figure in research on vaccination policies, said the study
should pose a cautionary tale for Americans.
Although there have been efforts by some organizations to discourage use
of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the United States,
Katz said vaccination rates remain at about 98 percent after a number of
studies by prominent medical organizations concluded that the MMR
vaccine is safe and not the cause of autism.
"In this country, we've had 100 or fewer cases of measles every year
recently whereas we once had millions," said Katz. Many of the cases
that have occurred in the United States, he said, were contracted in
other countries and imported to America.
"Despite those importations, our children have been so well immunized
that it hasn't been enough to fuel an outbreak," he said.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(news - web sites), there were 19 reported cases of measles in the
United States in 2002.
All 50 states require children to be immunized before they can attend
public schools. But public health officials in the Britain use a
different approach toward vaccinations, said Katz.
Instead of requiring MMR shots, the British National Health Service
encourages vaccination by rewarding doctors with bonuses if they meet
certain quotas of vaccine protection among their patients.
A decline in immunization rates has had a significant effect in Ireland.
Katz said that country, with a population of about 4 million, had more
than 1,500 measles cases last year.
In one Dublin hospital, there were nearly 400 measles cases, with three
deaths. Seven children required mechanical ventilation and 13 were
treated in intensive care wards.
"They had measles the way it used to occur in this country," said Katz.
"We don't ever want to see that again."
The last major outbreak in the United States came from 1989 to 1991,
when there were more than 55,000 cases of measles. Twenty percent of the
patients required hospitalization, Katz said, about one case in 500
resulted in death.
Katz said some religious groups in the United States are given
exemptions from childhood vaccinations and that there have been
outbreaks of disease where children from such families group together.
For instance, he said, a single elementary school in Colorado recently
had eight cases of whooping cough, one of the diseases childhood
vaccines protect against, after a cluster of unprotected children were
enrolled there.
___
On the Net:
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org
By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON - Measles is posing a growing risk to children in Britain as
parents decide against vaccinations for fear of side effects, and
researchers warn the disease could become endemic, a constant threat to
health.
British researchers report Friday in the journal Science that the level
of vaccinated children in Britain has dropped below 80 percent and that
the nation is experiencing more frequent and larger outbreaks of measles.
Dr. Mary E. Ramsay of the Health Protection Agency, a co-author of the
study, said Thursday that the level of vaccination in Britain was 92
percent in 1995, but it has been falling steadily since.
"That is why we are concerned that we will have measles re-established
in the U.K.," she said.
Last year, there 308 cases of measles, a small number in a country the
size of Britain, but Ramsay said that is about three times the number
from 2001.
"The greater concern is that we are seeing larger outbreaks instead of
small clusters," said Ramsay. "That is consistent with the fact that the
level of protection in the population is declining."
Ramsay said the decline in inoculation against measles can be traced to
a series of papers that suggested a link between autism among children
and the combination vaccine for mumps, measles and rubella.
"That has caused much concern among parents, despite the fact that there
have been several large studies ... showing that there is no link
between the vaccine and autism," she said. "Parents are still concerned
about it and are turning down the vaccine they previously would have had."
The drop in vaccinations "has coincided with a number of large measles
outbreaks," the authors said in Science.
"In their attempt to avoid the perceived risk associated with
vaccination, parents' behavior collectively results in a substantial
increase in the real risk of exposure to measles," the study noted.
Dr. Samuel L. Katz, a Duke University pediatrics professor who is a
prominent figure in research on vaccination policies, said the study
should pose a cautionary tale for Americans.
Although there have been efforts by some organizations to discourage use
of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the United States,
Katz said vaccination rates remain at about 98 percent after a number of
studies by prominent medical organizations concluded that the MMR
vaccine is safe and not the cause of autism.
"In this country, we've had 100 or fewer cases of measles every year
recently whereas we once had millions," said Katz. Many of the cases
that have occurred in the United States, he said, were contracted in
other countries and imported to America.
"Despite those importations, our children have been so well immunized
that it hasn't been enough to fuel an outbreak," he said.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(news - web sites), there were 19 reported cases of measles in the
United States in 2002.
All 50 states require children to be immunized before they can attend
public schools. But public health officials in the Britain use a
different approach toward vaccinations, said Katz.
Instead of requiring MMR shots, the British National Health Service
encourages vaccination by rewarding doctors with bonuses if they meet
certain quotas of vaccine protection among their patients.
A decline in immunization rates has had a significant effect in Ireland.
Katz said that country, with a population of about 4 million, had more
than 1,500 measles cases last year.
In one Dublin hospital, there were nearly 400 measles cases, with three
deaths. Seven children required mechanical ventilation and 13 were
treated in intensive care wards.
"They had measles the way it used to occur in this country," said Katz.
"We don't ever want to see that again."
The last major outbreak in the United States came from 1989 to 1991,
when there were more than 55,000 cases of measles. Twenty percent of the
patients required hospitalization, Katz said, about one case in 500
resulted in death.
Katz said some religious groups in the United States are given
exemptions from childhood vaccinations and that there have been
outbreaks of disease where children from such families group together.
For instance, he said, a single elementary school in Colorado recently
had eight cases of whooping cough, one of the diseases childhood
vaccines protect against, after a cluster of unprotected children were
enrolled there.
___
On the Net:
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org