All children must be offered measles jab

LONDON (Reuters) - Every child up to the age of 18 who has not been vaccinated against measles must be offered the MMR jab to help cut the risk of an epidemic, the government said on Thursday.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson has asked the heads of every primary care trust to urge parents to get their children immunised, after a decade of low uptake.

Some parents have been put off the MMR vaccine after controversial research in 1998 said it may be linked to autism.

Recent large-scale studies have found no evidence of any link and the Department of Health said people should not be afraid of the jab.

"Parents who have not had their children vaccinated with the MMR vaccine should do so now," said Professor David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the Department of Health. "The evidence on MMR is absolutely clear -- there is no link between the vaccine and autism.

"The MMR vaccine coverage is not high enough to remove the threat of recurrence of measles outbreaks. Measles is serious and in some cases it can be fatal. Delaying immunisation puts children at risk."

The government estimates that three million children aged between 18 months and 18 years have missed either their first or second MMR vaccination.

In 2006 and 2007 there were 1,726 confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales -- more than the previous 10 years put together. From 1996 to 2005 there were 1,621 cases.

The Department of Health said a measles epidemic in Britain could lead to between 30,000 and 100,000 cases among children.