London risks an epidemic of measles which could involve thousands of people, between 40,000 and 160,000. It is the alarm that comes from Uk Health Safety Agency which released a paper on risk assessment in the UK with a resurgence in measles cases. “We never met WHO’s target of 95% coverage with 2 doses of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine needed to achieve and maintain measles elimination,” he explains. the document.
Currently and for a decade, coverage is the lowest and about 1 in 10 children reach school age without being protected from infection. Based on the projections, the British experts explain, “the risk of widespread transmission of measles, leading to an epidemic throughout the country, is considered low”.
It is different, however, the case of London. Indeed, the capital has one of the lowest coverage rates (82.5% with one dose after 2 years and 74.1% with two doses after 5 years). Also, they exist large inequalities related to ethnicity, economic conditions and areas of residence. Vaccination rates are even lower in some communities (religious minorities, pseudoscience enthusiasts, migrants). Very vulnerable to the infection is also the group of young adults between 19 and 25 years old, victims of the hoax on the link between vaccines and autism in the early 2000s (not surprisingly defined “Cohorts of Wakefield”, named after the doctor who authored the fraudulent study on vaccines and autism).
“Measles can be a serious infection that can lead to complications especially in young children and those with weakened immune systems. Due to especially long-standing suboptimal vaccine coverage, there is now a very real risk of seeing large outbreaks a London,” said Vanessa Saliba, a consultant to Ukhsa (Health Safety Agency).
Getty
Measles vaccination