Expert Comment

Measles is a highly contagious virus which commonly affects children and has previously been greatly minimised due to the development go highly successful vaccines. However, it is coming back into the news as vaccination rates regrettably fall allowing a deadly virus to start once again claiming the health and potential lives of our children.

Measles causes a standard array of viral symptoms including fever, cough, runny nose, and crucially the characteristic red rash. These of themselves don’t sound very severe, but measles can progress, weakening a young child much more so than lesser viruses, to the degree that children’s very lives are placed at risk due to the virus.

From a public health perspective, measles is HIGHLY contagious. One affected child could go on to affect their whole class, if these were unvaccinated, with the risk of transmission remaining for up to 21 days. We’ve recently been through the horrors of covid lockdowns, and people are less tolerant of being requested to remain indoors and keep their children. Still, it’s vitally important to highlight how deadly measles can be with up to 7% of children under the age of 5 dying from infections when unvaccinated.

I have recently become a father, so my academic knowledge that Andrew Wakefield lied about the MMR vaccine, fabricating side effects which is does not have, purely for financial gain makes me livid given that he has directly contributed to the deaths of children due to his lies. I won’t even describe it as misinformation.

Different communities have different health beliefs, but as a doctor, it is my job to help educate those patients. We explain that smoking is dangerous, with each cigarette taking 10 minutes off the smoker's life. But that is ultimately the choice of the individual. Opting NOT to have a child vaccinated with a safe medication when in full understanding of the facts doesn’t affect the parent… until their child becomes infected with a horrific disease. Vaccination has been one of the greatest medical creations in terms of saving lives and suffering.

To turn our back on that if frankly terrifying.