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Health bosses urge parents to protect youngsters from deadly diseases

Sandwell Primary Care Trust is urging parents and guardians to ensure they protect their children from potentially killer childhood diseases.

Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) are three potentially dangerous and infectious diseases. In Sandwell, not all children have received the vaccinations they need to protect them from the viruses.

Each child in Sandwell should receive two MMR vaccinations to be fully protected. The first at 13 months old, and the second at 3 years and 4 months. Children also need to receive two doses of pneumococcal in the first year of life, and a booster vaccination after the age of 12 months.

Michele Lawrence, Consultant Nurse in Health Protection for Sandwell Primary Care Trust said: “The uptake rate for the MMR and pneumococcal vaccine in Sandwell could be higher. In order to protect all children from vaccine preventable diseases, we need to make sure that all children have been offered the vaccine to be fully protected.”

In fact, according to Michele many children are vaccinated once, but they fail to return for the all important second vaccination.

Michele added: “Measles, mumps or rubella carry risks such as viral meningitis, deafness, brain damage and death. The full course of the MMR vaccine protects against these and we would encourage all parents and guardians to get their children protected as soon as possible.”

If you think your child has not received the MMR or pneumococcal vaccine, or you are unsure, please contact your GP surgery as soon as possible.

Information:

The MMR vaccine is recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Two doses of MMR vaccine are needed to give children the best protection before they go to school. 90% of those who do not respond to the first dose are protected by the second. Those with low antibodies after the first dose will be boosted.

The MMR programme started in Britain in 1988.

Worldwide, more than 500 million doses of the MMR vaccine have been given in over 100 countries.

There has never been a programme of giving single vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella in the UK.

At this moment in time, the uptake rate in Sandwell for the first dose of the MMR vaccine is 86% by the age of 2. The uptake rate for the second dose is 83% by the age of 5.