HIV-style ad campaign must counter anti-vaxx myths about measles – Christine Jardine

Falls in vaccination rates have seen increases in cases of measles, a potentially deadly disease, but a major public awareness campaign could help counter the bogus claims of ‘anti-vaxx’ campaigners, writes Christine Jardine.

Getting your children vaccinated against measles could save their lives (Picture: Donald MacLeod)

I really only have one memory of when I had measles as a child.

I was four or five years old. It was the middle of the night and my dad was carrying me downstairs from our flat to the car. I have vague memories of a doctor, and of being confused. I was lucky. The sudden change in my condition was an ear infection which was dealt with.

It could so easily have been much, much worse.

As I was growing up, my mother talked about that as one of her most frightening experiences as a parent.

I am that generation who lived with the very real Russian Roulette that was interacting with other children at school when measles was out there and there was no vaccine.

Yes, it was just around the corner, and both of my sisters had the vaccine whose introduction in 1971 eradicated a dangerous, potentially fatal infection. Or so we thought.

This past week, I sat in the House of Commons and listened to the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, outline the results of a symposium with social media companies in which one of the main issues was how to tackle the spread of fake information about measles, stories which discourage parents from having their child immunised. Many people hold that misinformation at least partly responsible. And it’s happening here and abroad.

Last week, a US cruise ship was placed in quarantine off the Caribbean island of St Lucia after a case of measles was reported on board.

To protect themselves from a potential outbreak, the St Lucian authorities were forced to prohibit anyone from leaving the ship while the case was dealt with.

Some might think that is an over-reaction. But let’s just stop for a moment and think about what measles actually is and the damage it can do.

Measles is a highly infectious disease which is spread through coughing, sneezing, or from droplets being left on a surface. It can lead to complications – most frighteningly encephalitis – and can be fatal.

Of course, this isn’t a disease to which we’ve had to give much thought in the UK since 1971.

But in justifying her decision, the island’s chief medical officer cited the current situation in the US, where cases of the disease are at a 25-year high.

A public health emergency has been declared there, with more than 700 people across 22 states already being infected this year.

American officials have said that the increase in cases is the largest since 1994, including 78 reported in the past week.

The vast majority of cases have affected unvaccinated children, with a growing number of American parents choosing to leave their children unvaccinated either on religious grounds, or due to unscientific claims that vaccines cause conditions such as autism.

In other words, the situation could be completely avoidable.

And we are facing a similar situation here.

Rates of vaccination are in decline: in England, coverage for the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine decreased in 2017-18 for the fourth year in a row.

Scotland appears more resistant to the so-called “anti-vaxx” wave than the other nations.

Our MMR vaccination rate by age five stands at 91.2 per cent compared to 87.2 per cent in England, and there were just 33 recorded cases of measles in Scotland over the four years from 2015 to 2018 compared to the thousands being treated in many European countries including France and Italy in 2018 alone. But experts warn that we cannot be complacent, and the shocking increase in US cases this year shows us why.

It’s not just anti-vaxx attitudes that are threatening public safety.

Doctors in the Highlands are also raising concerns that changes to GP contracts could lead to a drop in immunisation rates among adults and children in rural areas.

Traditionally, MMR and flu injections are given at local doctors’ surgeries, but they are to become the responsibility of clinics set up by health boards.

The change is designed to reduce the workload of GPs, but some doctors worry that in rural areas people might miss visits due to longer journeys to attend the clinics. What we face is almost the perfect storm.

Over the past few weeks, there have been calls for children who haven’t been vaccinated to be excluded from schools. The Secretary of State has said he might consider that. That might sound like scaremongering but, sadly it’s not.

And while I understand the motive, I can’t agree with the method. Yes we want to overcome the problem, to protect children. But surely the answer needs to be more progressive. Punishing children for a decision which their parents are frankly entitled to take, makes no sense.

Nor will it miraculously protect them, or children who are too young to be vaccinated, from coming into contact with the disease elsewhere. What we need is a major, nationwide campaign to draw attention to the dangers. We know that can work.

Surely none of us who was alive in the 1980s can forget those dramatic, and dramatically successful, AIDS awareness television ads. That might seem like an odd comparison, but the impact of measles can be just as serious as HIV and AIDS for the individual who is infected.

We need to stop dancing around the problem and take action. Parents need to have all possible information, and sound scientific evidence, to consider before they make such an important decision on their child’s heath.

It is, of course, still a parent’s choice. But when it was one I faced myself I spoke to my mother. She reminded me of that night long ago. Of the days she spent worrying about my future.

There had been no way then that she and my father could have protected me from the infection, and when they did have the option for my sisters they took it. I did the same.

I have no right to tell any other parent what they should do, or that the decision they make is not the right one for them. All I would do is ask them to get the best advice they can.