Push for catch-up vaccinations

CAMPAIGN STARTING OVER CONCERNS CHILDREN ARE MISSING INOCULATIONS

- ANDY PHILLIPS 

PARENTS are being urged to make sure their children's vaccinations are up to date, ahead of a new Government campaign highlighting the re-emergence of a number of serious diseases.

Nationwide, there have been more than 650 cases of measles, with 69 reported in the last week alone.

The new campaign, which starts on Monday, highlights falling levels of uptake for childhood vaccines including whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, meningitis and diphtheria.

Data from July to September 2023 shows that just over 90% (92.4%) of five-year-olds in the South West were fully up to date with their vaccines, with but fewer than 90% (89.7%) were fully protected against, measles, mumps and rubella.

Despite the South West's relatively high uptake compared to other parts of the country, levels of vaccination in England are no longer at the rate which the World Health Organisation considers necessary to prevent outbreaks.