Nurseries in Britain have begun implementing coronavirus-style isolation procedures amid a spike in reported cases of measles, including one death linked to the highly contagious disease. There have been over 500 confirmed cases of measles in the UK this year, mainly among young children, one of whom died after contracting the infection in Liverpool last weekend. It has led nurseries to begin reintroducing isolation measures last used during the COVID-19 pandemic, including rigorous cleaning and separating walking and non-walking infants to reduce contagion.
The trend has been linked to failed uptake of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine, with 91.9% of five-year-olds receiving one dose of the inoculation, the lowest since 2010/11, and just 83.9% receiving both doses – a low last seen in 2009/10. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says herd immunity, which prevents infections from spreading across populations, requires at least 95% of children to receive the full set of vaccinations.
Adam Rowles, whose two-year-old daughter’s nursery in south-east London recently reported four cases of measles, said he was worried his six-month-old son will be infected because he is due to join before his first birthday, when he would be eligible for the first MMR jab.
“It’s alarming, isn’t it?” he told The Guardian. “Because it’s something that you think has been eradicated, and we don’t have to worry about anymore, but then all of a sudden, here we are. It’s just baffling.”
He said he was told delaying sending his son to nursery would mean losing his place, and was assured that “Covid levels of cleaning” had been put in place following the outbreak.
“We felt slightly more at ease, but still not fully at ease,” Mr Rowles added. “It made what seemed really bad and quite scary, still scary but less so. We’re basically just going to have to hope for the best for five months.”
Measles, which is highly infectious and can lead to serious infections, usually manifests through cold and flu-like symptoms and a rash. On rare occasions, it can also lead to meningitis and brain swelling, potentially causing long-term disabilities or death.
Health officials have suggested the drop in vaccinations could be linked to misinformation shared online about the MMR jab, following conspiracy theories around the COVID vaccine’s safety, efficacy and side effects.
“This vaccine’s been in use for well over 50 years,” Nathan Askew, chief nurse at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where a child died from measles on Sunday. “It’s very safe, tried and tested.”