The number of children who are getting the MMR vaccination has plummeted in Bradford, a city in England, where health officials have warned about the rising risk of a measles outbreak.
Less than 90 per cent of children under the age of two there are currently getting the jab, new figures show – a fall from 94.6 per cent just seven years ago.
A 95 per cent take-up is needed for herd immunity, experts widely agree.
“We need to get the MMR rate back up,” public health consultant Duncan Cooper told the West Yorkshire city council’s health and social care scrutiny committee on Tuesday.
The MMR jab – first introduced in 1988 – protects against measles, mumps and rubella, three highly infectious and potentially fatal diseases that can cause serious problems including meningitis and hearing loss.
