Warning low vaccine uptake could lead to measles deaths

Modelling suggests outbreaks could cost the country £290m

- REBECCA THOMAS

Hundreds of people could die in measles outbreaks in the next 20 years unless vaccination rates are dramatically improved, a top disease expert has warned. Unvaccinated babies aged under 12 months would make up a significant proportion of 480 avoidable deaths over the next two decades, according to modelling by Imperial College London.

Katharina Hauck, a professor in health economics and deputy director of the university's Jameel Institute, which led the research, suggested there could be two major outbreaks resulting in an additional 390,000 cases, based on a vaccination rate of around 90 per cent. Current vaccination rates for the two doses required to provide protection against the highly contagious disease are around 85 per cent.

The warning comes after a child died and several others were left “seriously ill” at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital after contracting measles, just days after health officials warned about an increase in cases due to people not being vaccinated.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said the decline in UK vaccination rates is “extremely concerning” and urged governments across the UK to “act urgently” to reverse the trend. The researchers estimated that the costs of hospitalisation combined with productivity loss because people are unable to work due to measles could amount to £290m over 20 years.