A measles outbreak on Merseyside has left several children “seriously unwell”, a top NHS hospital has warned as it urged people to get vaccinated to help combat the spread of the disease.
The rise in cases, according to an alert on Alder Hey Children’s Hospital websites, is also driving an increase in patients attending its A&E.
In an open letter, published on Monday, the trust’s senior directors warned: “Measles is putting children and young people at risk within our communities and our hospital. Several children are seriously unwell and receiving treatment at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
“Measles is on the rise amongst our children. We can all help stop it. Get vaccinated now.”
It warned that the reason there are more cases of the virus is because fewer people are having the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The trust said the number of children being treated at Alder Hey hospital over measles is increasing and warned “children in hospital who are very poorly for another reason, are at higher risk of catching the virus.”
In a separate, now-deleted post on its website, Alder Hey said it was experiencing high levels of A&E attendances and that it was “seeing an increase in children presenting with symptoms of measles.”
Measles is highly contagious and, in rare cases, can be fatal. Symptoms usually begin with a runny nose, sneezing, coughing and a high temperature. A measles rash follows a few days after, starting on the face and behind the ears before spreading to the rest of the body.
The virus can also cause red, sore eyes.
Liverpool City Council published a plea on 4 July to parents to get children vaccinated amid a rise in cases across Merseyside. In the warning, Dr Merav Kliner, deputy director for UK Health Security Agency in the North West said: “With declines in childhood vaccine uptake, including MMR, observed in many countries around the world over the last decade, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now seeing the impact of this with large measles outbreaks globally including recently in Europe and England last year.”
“Measles is one of the most highly infectious diseases and spreads rapidly among those who are unvaccinated and is often the canary in the coalmine for vaccine preventable diseases.
“We are concerned that this could be an early warning sign of other possible disease outbreaks both globally and here at home, especially over the summer months as families with unvaccinated children and adults travel to countries where diseases are endemic or outbreaks are occurring.”
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