Health chiefs warn parents - measles could kill a child

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Friday, March 15, 2013
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South Wales Evening Post

IT could be a matter of time before measles kills a child in Swansea or leaves them with permanent problems, health chiefs have warned.

Public Health Wales is again urging parents to ensure their children get the MMR vaccination as cases in the Swansea area reach 252, with 43 new cases reported in the past week alone.

Thirty eight — one in six who have contracted measles in this outbreak — have been hospitalised.

Public Health Wales said concerns were growing that it was a matter of time before a child was left with serious and permanent complications such as eye disorders, deafness, or brain damage. It can even result in death.

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The disease has now spread to children in 64 secondary and primary schools and nurseries across the area with numbers of new cases doubling weekly.

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness. Initial symptoms of measles include cold-like symptoms, red eyes and sensitivity to light, fever, greyish white spots in the mouth and throat.

After a few days a red-brown spotty rash will appear.

It usually starts behind the ears, then spreads around the head and neck before spreading to the legs and the rest of the body.

The majority of the new cases are in the Swansea area but cases are being reported across South East Wales. Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board and Public Health Wales said they were working closely to combat the outbreak.

Dr Marion Lyons, director of health protection for Public Health Wales, said the continuing measles outbreak was a "serious concern". She said: "We cannot emphasise enough that measles is an illness that can kill — or leave people with permanent complications including severe brain damage — and the only protection is the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination.

"The continuing spread of the disease in the Swansea area means that it is only a matter of time before we have a child whose health is seriously damaged by measles.

"We are urging parents of unvaccinated children to make immediate arrangements with their GP for their children to receive the safe and highly-effective MMR vaccine."

Some vulnerable groups are not suited to the MMR vaccine.

Dr Lyons added: "Ninety per cent of children receiving one dose of MMR are very quickly protected against measles."

For more informtaion visit www.publichealthwales.org/measles

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13 Comments

  • Profile image for sipajones

    by sipajones

    Wednesday, March 27 2013, 5:25PM

    “Like I say, they have gotten it wrong at times, I know about the SV40 virus getting into vaccines for a couple of years. The autism link has been dis-proven and the doctor discredited.

    The fact remains, Smallpox was eradicated by vaccines.

    This current Measles outbreak used to be worldwide and constant. Thankfully measles vaccines kept it under control. Cases dropped significantly when it was first introduced in the 70's and dropped further when it was adjusted.

    The outbreak we have in Swansea is caused by scaremongering. Some have given a few people cancer before being withdrawn. Some it seems have caused meningitis before being withdrawn. But the lives they saved even with these fails are many.

    70 years ago a measles outbreak wasn't news, it was normal and came with a 30% chance of death. Thank science for modern medicine.”

  • Profile image for taracmcmillan

    by taracmcmillan

    Friday, March 22 2013, 1:33AM

    “YOu can not be serious? The MMR vaccine was just shown to be FATAL in Italy, and has been banned..why is this not news in England?”

  • Profile image for Julesbreadbox

    by Julesbreadbox

    Tuesday, March 19 2013, 11:22AM

    “@PJL1967

    Thanks for all of that information.
    I think it is important to get off the "autism" rubbish and start educating people in general and especially parents not to be afraid to ask questions and stand their grounds.

    As I have been going on throughout all of the thread, the actual vaccine bit of an injection is not the problem.
    The really problematic and even dangerous ingredients are additives, preservatives, enhancers, stabilizers and others.

    And these additives are not listed in the contents list. Only if you read the leaflet right up to the end you will find a hint that "persons with a known adverse reaction towards neomycin(and/or gelatine) should not be given this vaccine" you realize that simply telling people "it only non-active or semi-active measeles " nothing else, is an utter lie.

    I can now say for sure that I will not have my younger daugther vaccinated since she actually IS allergic to some forms of penicillin (including neomycin).

    In Germany you get a full list of ingredients by the manufacturer plus several telephone numbers to call if things get out of hand.
    Plus: you have local doctors 24/7 all over the place and even having to go to A&E is nowhere near the horror trip that it is over here.
    You don't have to wait for more than 15 Minutes in an infant A&E, if at all..


    IMHO this measle outbreak which certainly is really bad is being used to impose an ideology.

    It reminds me of the swine flu craze where governments bought tons of jabs and in the end got stuck with them since nobody wanted them.
    What did they do? Drive a massive campaign. Which luckily didn't work either. And destroyed the unwanted miracle stuff.

    And lastly: it is not true that MMR is only available as a combined vaccination. In Germany rubella jabs are offered to teenagers 13+. You can get the MMR combi, but you don't have to. There is a variety of choices available.....but then again that's the same in other medical areas(like cancer treatment)”

  • Profile image for PJL1967

    by PJL1967

    Monday, March 18 2013, 2:20PM

    “BTW sipajones, I bet you didn't know that:

    The problems with Pluserix MMR were known to the supplier, Glaxo company Smith Kline & French Laboratories Ltd from the experience of its introduction to Canada, in 1986, where Pluserix was marketed under the name "Trivirix".

    Trivirix (Pluserix) was withdrawn from use in Canada in 1988 because it was dangerous, causing high levels of adverse reactions in children.

    The high levels of British adverse reactions to the vaccine were apparent and known about at British Ministerial level in 1990, as shown by ministerial correspondence.

    Pluserix/Trivirx are the identical vaccine manufactured in the identical Smith Kline factory in Belgium and with the exact same component parts and constituents.

    Despite the Canadian position and contemporaneously with the final withdrawal of Pluserix/Trivirix in Canada the UK signed the contract to purchase Pluserix MMR from Glaxo company, Smith Kline & French Laboratories Limited in July 1988, even though it was known by then to be too dangerous for use on our children.

    SK&F was provided with a blanket indemnity in that contract by the NHS Procurement Directorate.

    The contract was signed up by the backdoor through the North East Thames Regional Health Authority as agent for the NHS Procurement Directorate rather than being a contract directly entered into with the NHS Procurement Directorate which negotiated the contract or the NHS Executive of the time.

    There was no Parliamentary scrutiny of this and it seems to have been effected in a manner Ministerially deniable.

    Similar problems were experienced in Japan with the Japanese MMR vaccine which, in common with Pluserxi/Trivirix, contained the Urabe strain of mumps virus.

    The Japanese MMR was also withdrawn by 1992 on safety grounds having caused high levels of adverse reactions.

    The British government continued the licence for Pluserix MMR after 1992, which enabled it to be supplied overseas.

    Even today, because it is cheaper than safer alternatives, organisations like UNICEF continue supplying urabe strain containing MMR vaccine to the more adverse reaction vulnerable and less well nourished third world children.

    Do you still say "we have to trust them"?”

  • Profile image for PJL1967

    by PJL1967

    Monday, March 18 2013, 1:16PM

    “sipajones, the polio vaccine introduced in the 1950's is also widely regarded as a major success story, although I bet most if not all people reading this will not be aware the vaccine was contaminated with a cancer causing SV40 virus (Simian Virus-40) and that hundreds of millions of people throughout the world are thought to have been exposed to SV40.

    http://tinyurl.com/64j6uvw

    Did you also know that a relatively new 6- in-1 vaccine has just been recommended for approval by the European Medicines Agency despite the fact a confidential GlaxoSmithKline document recently leaked to the press exposed that within a 2yr period,36 infants died after receiving the Infanrix Hexa 6-in-1 vaccine?

    http://tinyurl.com/cqhv4uj

    It's because of cold hard facts like these that I have to disagree with you. And there are many more examples I could give you which should make you reconsider your statement "we have to trust them" such as Dr David Healy exposure of the pharmacutical industries attempts to cover up the know suicide risks of the prescribed SSRi anti-depressants.

    As David Healy says, we need a "new contract between society and the pharmaceutical industry – a contract that will require access to the raw data"

    null)#Lilly.E2.80.99s_knowledge_of_Prozac_and_suicide”

  • Profile image for sipajones

    by sipajones

    Monday, March 18 2013, 5:37AM

    “With careful use of vaccines, Smallpox, a deadly measles-like disease has been completely eradicated from the planet! The introduction of the measles vaccine showed an instant and massive decrease in measles cases. Yes there may well be people who have adverse reactions to the jab, like some people who suffer when eating wheat or onions. Personally I get very ill eating eggs and chicken. Some people die from anesthesia, but is it worth avoiding that life saving kidney transplant just in case you're one of the unlucky ones? The vaccine is PROVEN to work overall. I can't find a UK graph, but here's one from the USA: http://tinyurl.com/cv7sfy9 a second graph with similar data http://tinyurl.com/bqgujdk

    Vaccines work! I know science gets it wrong sometimes, but it does work and with proven facts like these, we have to trust them!”

  • Profile image for PJL1967

    by PJL1967

    Sunday, March 17 2013, 2:34AM

    “This is a very dramatic headline, however, to put things in perspective, an article in the Telegraph by Dr Richard Halvorsen called "Secret report reveals 18 child deaths following vaccinations" reveals four times the number of deaths from the MMR jabs than deaths from measles..

    Quote: "Four deaths have been linked to suspected adverse reactions to the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) triple jab, according to documents prepared for the Government's expert advisers on immunisation. The controversial jab has been beset by fears of a link to autism and bowel disease, although since its introduction in 1998, yearly deaths from measles have fallen from 16 to zero.."

    http://tinyurl.com/y9etaex

  • Profile image for JohnSW4

    by JohnSW4

    Friday, March 15 2013, 7:06PM

    “The reason parents are so fearful And fearful of any vaccines and the power and the wealth of the Pharmaceutical Company's!
    https://sites.google.com/site/redrockcloud/
    At least we can be reassured that after this measles out break figure's will be available for "us" to analyze and make informed decisions!!”

  • Profile image for Julesbreadbox

    by Julesbreadbox

    Friday, March 15 2013, 6:00PM

    “@ ABM_Health

    Repeating "rubbish" doesn't turn it into gold!”

  • Profile image for ABM_Health

    by ABM_Health

    Friday, March 15 2013, 4:53PM

    “Hi dodes80 - Thank you for sharing this will us. We hope your little ones are better soon.
    You are right; the most effective way to protect against measles is to have x2 MMR vaccinations. One dose of the MMR vaccination is 90% effective against measles and after two doses 99% effective.

    For anyone reading this who is undecided about the their child having the MMR vaccination there is a lot of information on the NHS Choices website http://tinyurl.com/b87kr7n The University of Oxford also has information on it as part of their Vaccine Knowledge project http://tinyurl.com/b2ybgux

    But if you are concerned about any of the issues mentioned here or anything to do with measles / MMR, the best thing to do is to talk to your GP or health visitor.

    Further information about measles and data relating to this outbreak can be found on the Public Health Wales website http://tinyurl.com/bbkstme

    Also, for anyone worried about links to autism, the Autism Science Foundation says the following in there article about vaccines causing autism: "While there are still a handful of parents who, in almost a religious way, cling to the notion that vaccines cause autism, the vast majority of parents and scientists have accepted what the data clearly show. There is no data to support an autism vaccine link. There never has been. Vaccines don't cause autism." http://tinyurl.com/y8paspb

    With regards to the so called 'research'' over MMR/autism in the UK, this has been completely and utterly discredited, as has the man behind it. It completely failed the acid test of all scientific research - other research programmes duplicating the results. Many tried, over a period of several years, but none ever did. No study has found a link between the MMR vaccine and autism or bowel disease.

    The doctor at the centre of this so-called 'research', Andrew Wakefield was also discredited. The General Medical Council found three dozen charges against him proved, including four counts of dishonesty and 12 counts involving the abuse of developmentally challenged children. The panel ruled that Wakefield had "failed in his duties as a responsible consultant", acted both against the interests of his patients, and "dishonestly and irresponsibly" in his published research. Dr Andrew Wakefield was struck off.

    There is a page on Andrew Wakefield and his MMR 'research' on Wikipedia if anyone wants to read about this in more detail: http://tinyurl.com/6ceoex

    Single Vaccines

    NHS Choices explains why the NHS doesn't recommend single vaccines - there is no evidence to support the use of single vaccines or to suggest that they are "safer" than MMR. Having single vaccines puts your child at risk of catching measles, mumps or rubella in the time in between the vaccines.

    No country in the world recommends MMR and then offers parents a choice of having single vaccines instead. Every independent expert group around the world (including the World Health Organization http://tinyurl.com/3tx9d) supports the use of MMR, and none support the use of single vaccines.”

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