MEASLES – information for partner organisations

10,000 (10%) children under the age of 18 who live within the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area are at risk of catching the disease as they haven’t had the 2 MMR jabs needed.

The Health Board has arranged vaccination sessions at all secondary schools in North Wales to enable pupils who have missed their scheduled MMR vaccinations to get protected. Some have already taken place and the rest will take place during April and May - parents will receive information about times and dates from their school.

Primary schools that have vaccination rate of less than 90% and primary schools where there are more than 20 unvaccinated pupils are being targeted.

North Wales is not within the current epidemic area. Therefore at present, the advice to parents in North Wales is that they should ensure that their children receive their MMR vaccination in accordance with the normal schedule. With the first dose given between 12-13 months old and the second dose at 3 years and four months old, there is no need to bring these dates forward.

Health staff who are in direct patient contact including those who work in paediatrics, school nurses and GP surgeries are now being offered the MMR vaccine.

Adults who were born before 1970 are presumed to have immunity and do not need immunisation. Those born between 1970 and 1995 when the MMR was introduced are not currently being called for vaccination, however if they are travelling to the epidemic area they are advised to contact their GP surgery or contact NHS Direct for further advice.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

Encourage friends, family and colleagues to get their children vaccinated.

Put information about Measles on your website/intranet using the bilingual information on www.publichealthwales.org/measles and put up a poster (attached)

Follow our facebook page & share and like our measles posts/BCUHBChooseWell & retweet us BCUHB #measles