A national incident was declared earlier this month as cases of the highly contagious infection surge across the UK. As experts warn unvaccinated kids can catch measles after just 15 minutes of contact, those cases look set to rise.
So why is uptake of the routine vaccination so low? Netmums investigates… Opening the letter that had just arrived through her door, Emma* quickly scanned the contents before throwing it in the bin. Despite appearances, it wasn’t junk mail. Instead, it was from her GP surgery inviting her to book the first measles, mumps and rubella vaccine for her then one-year-old daughter. And she had no intention of taking them up on it.
He suggested the MMR vaccine was linked to autism. However, studies since then have proven this is not the case and Wakefield has since been disbarred from practising medicine. But the legacy of his 'theory', and the prevalence of general anti-vax messaging on social media, is all having an impact.