Breaking: Measles Cases Rise in Greater Manchester Amidstโข Vaccineโ Uptake Concerns
Cases of highly infectious measles are spreading inโค three areasโ of Greater Manchester, prompting health โขofficials to urge vigilance and vaccination. The outbreaks are occurring inโฃ Manchester, Salford, โขand โTrafford, with health leadersโข warning of the potential forโ wider transmission due to fallingโ vaccination rates.
Doctors have stressed the riseโฃ inโค measles isโ comingโ from aโ ‘poor uptake’ of the MMR โvaccine across the country – an uptake that has fallen over the last decade. Notโฃ aโข single childhood vaccine in England last yearโ met the target needed to ensure diseases cannot spread โฃamong youngsters, figures revealed in Augustโค showed. Some 91.9 โคperโ cent of five-year-olds โhad received one dose of the MMR vaccine, the lowest โคlevel since 2010/11. Just 83.7 โคper cent had received both โdoses, down from 83.9 โขper cent the previous year and โขthe โฃlowest levelโ since 2009/10.โค Uptake of the first MMR dose atโ 24 months stood at 88.9 per cent in 2024/25 – unchanged โขon the previousโ year,but again the lowest figure since โ2009/10.
Measles โis a highly contagious viral illness that can lead to seriousโ complications, particularly in young children. symptoms appear seven to 10 days after โขcontact with the virus โคandโ include cold-like symptoms such as a runny or blocked nose, sneezing and cough;โค red, โsore,โค watery eyes;โ aโ high temperature โค(fever), which may reach around 40C; a non-itchy,โค red-brown rash which usually appears three โฃto five days later, or small white spots which may appear inside cheeks and the back of lips.
Health officials advise โanyone whoโ develops symptoms – a fever,โข cough, runnyโข nose, red eyes, followed by a rash โค- to stay โhome and โcontact their GP or NHS 111.
