Nurses urged to watch for measles, as vaccine rate dips

The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) Vaccine rates have dropped to a 10-year low, risking outbreaks of the highly infectious and dangerous virus. The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has urged medics to use ‘every opportunity’ to check a child's vaccination status and offer the MMR jab to those who have not had two doses.

‘Having to consider measles in our national guidance for the first time in decades is a disappointing but necessary move. Vaccination coverage for children under the age of five is now the lowest it has ever been in the past 10 years,’ said Dr Camilla Kingdon, RCPCH president.

‘We are already starting to see the effects of this with measles outbreaks occurring in London, Wales and Leicester,’ she said.

In the UK, latest figures show that only 84.5% of eligible children received a second shot of the protective MMR jab – the lowest level since 2010–11. This is less than the 95% threshold set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that is required for herd immunity.