Dad Craig Thomas's guilt over not vaccinating measles daughter.
A FATHER has spoken of his guilt over not vaccinating his daughter against measles.
Craig Thomas's daughter Chloe is one of 16 pupils from Morriston Comprehensive School suffering from the virus.
The 15-year-old is so ill the school had to postpone one of her GCSE exams on Tuesday.
Mr Thomas said he and Chloe's mother Nicola Malcolm felt terrible that they had chosen not to give her the MMR vaccine when she was a youngster as a result of information they read about at the time.
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Mr Thomas, 36, said: "We feel so guilty, we took the decision for her not to have it. "We just wish she had had the injection.
"We thought it was nothing to begin with but she is really, really bad.
We noticed the spots coming on her back and neck.
"She is just lying down and not eating, we took her to the doctor on Monday and he said, 'All you can do is give her antibiotics'.
"Her school has been very good and they postponed her performing arts exam this week. We have another two boys and one of them is coming down with it too."
Since 2004, the number of children being vaccinated with the MMR jab has been steadily rising, with 92.7 percent of children in Wales receiving the first jab before the age of two, for 2011/12.
Rates for the vaccine fell sharply in 1998 following controversial research by Doctor Andrew Wakefield, which linked the vaccine to autism. It has since been disproved.
It is thought around 16 other pupils at Morriston Comprehensive have been struck down with the virus.
"We just want to tell other parents what it is like," Mr Thomas added.
"The doctor said it can take up to two weeks for her to get better.
"Morriston Comprehensive seems to have had it worse than anyone."
Two doses of the vaccine gives 99 per cent protection against the highly contagious virus, which can be fatal.
Initial symptoms of measles include cold-like symptoms, red eyes and sensitivity to light, fever, greyish white spots in the mouth and throat.
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