Image
© GETTYMeasles can be fatal.
Thousands of children are in ­danger of catching measles because their parents still refuse to let them have proper vaccinations.

Health chiefs have warned Britain is on the brink of a second major ­epidemic just four months after the previous outbreak which claimed one life and more than 1,200 victims.

The virus is highly contagious. Experts say one child with measles sitting in a classroom for just an hour will pass it on to at least 70 per cent of other pupils who are not vaccinated.

Cases have once again soared in Swansea, the area which was hit earlier this year.


Comment: Measles can indeed be a fatal disease. This is usually the case in infants with already compromised immune systems due to different factors such as poor nutrition, hygiene etc.

On the other hand, the risks associated with the administration of measles vaccines are not to be taken lightly.

A quick search of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)2 reveals nearly 5,100 vaccine-related deaths were reported in the U.S., for example, between 1990 and August 2012. The vast majority of deaths - nearly 60 percent - occurred in children under the age of three. Just over 360 of the reported vaccine-associated deaths in the US have been related to any of the measles-containing vaccines.


Health chiefs in Wales warned last month that a renewed flare-up was likely to spread rapidly unless children have the vital secondary measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) booster jab.


Comment: There are vaccines that historically have been associated with more side effects than others, and the combination measles, mumps and rubella vaccine - MMR shot - is one of those.

The health risks associated with the MMR vaccine has been in the news for about 15 years, and questions about the safety of the vaccine recently re-emerged - at least in Europe - when the Italian health ministry conceded that the MMR vaccine caused autism in Valentino Bocca, a now nine-year-old boy, who suffered brain inflammation and permanent brain damage after he was vaccinated.

According to his parents, the change in his behavior was immediate. That same night he refused to eat, and he developed diarrhea during the night. It quickly went downhill from there. While his parents immediately suspected the vaccination, they were told this was "impossible." Valentino progressively regressed, and received the diagnosis of autism a year later. In the final analysis, the Italian Health Ministry disagreed with the initial conclusion of the pediatrician, conceding that the vaccine was indeed at fault.

It's well worth noting that this story was completely ignored by U.S. media, and serves as a potent example of how health information is censored. Is it any wonder so many Americans are still in the dark about vaccine hazards? Whether hearing about this case in the U.S. media would sway you to believe vaccines are risky or not, the fact is that you were not even allowed to learn about it in the first place.


At that point, the total stood at 13 cases but this has already risen to 36.

"Parents and young people should not underestimate how serious ­measles can be and how quickly it can spread," said Dr Jorg Hoffmann, ­Public Health Wales consultant in communicable disease control.

"To prevent this outbreak spreading even further, it's crucial that unactivated children and young people receive two doses of MMR urgently and that those with symptoms do not attend school." The ­epidemic which swept the greater Swansea area earlier this year triggered a huge vaccination programme.

While many children got their first dose of the MMR injection, a significant number failed to get a booster jab within a month.

Although more than 70,000 catch-up MMR jabs were given across Wales during the epidemic, 30,000 children and young people aged from 10 to 18 remain unprotected.

Health officials emphasized that the only protection against the infection is two doses of the MMR jab.


Comment: No matter what vaccination choices you make for yourself or your family, there is a basic human right to be fully informed about all risks and have the ability to refuse to allow substances you consider to be harmful, toxic or poisonous to be forced upon you. Unfortunately, the partnership between government health agencies and vaccine manufacturers is getting closer and closer. People want to be free to exercise their human right to informed consent when it comes to making voluntary decisions about which vaccines they and their children use. The government and pharmaceutical industry want to be free to prevent you from ever exercising this right.


All cases in the new outbreak, affecting four schools, date from the start of October. Several of the new cases have been spread as a result of pupils attending school already with the symptoms of measles.

Where sufficient numbers of children remain unprotected in a school where there has been measles, school vaccination sessions will be arranged.

Dr Hoffmann added: "Parents who have decided not to vaccinate their children are not only risking their children's health but are putting other children at risk.

"We are very frustrated to see more cases so soon after the large outbreak earlier this year and we are very keen for this to be stopped before we return to a position where children are admitted to hospital or die."