LONDON (June 29, 2002 7:50 p.m. EDT) - Health chiefs reported Saturday that the number of measles cases have risen dramatically in the first three months of this year in Britain, where parental fears over vaccination has lead to a drop in childhood inoculations.

There were 126 confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales from January to the end of March 2002, compared with only 32 cases in the last quarter of 2001, the Public Health Laboratory Service said.

The steep increase was the result of a single outbreak linked to several nurseries and schools in south London which flared up early this year and has now died down.

Use of the controversial combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in London remains lower than in any other region of Britain, the report said, despite government efforts to promote vaccination.

The health agency said 35 of 50 cases in London involved children aged under five who were not vaccinated.

By February of this year, MMR immunization in British 2-year-olds had dropped to a record low of 84 percent, well below the 95 percent specialists say is needed to prevent measles from returning.

The measles, mumps and rubella inoculation is required in 90 other countries.

The fears in Britain appear to be the result of a surge of publicity about one doctor's concerns about the safety of the triple inoculation.

A 1998 British study contended the vaccine could be linked to autism, a severe neurological disorder usually diagnosed around the age of 2 - the same age that the vaccine is given.

Since that study, several authoritative groups of international scientists have examined the evidence - including a panel that reviewed five decades of research on the vaccine's side effects - and concluded there is no evidence of a connection.

However, many parents remain unconvinced and health authorities fear a measles comeback.

The strain of measles that hit the capital is common in Thailand and other southeast Asian countries, but until this year had been very rare in Britain.

 

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