2013 Swansea measles epidemic

Some sources linked the outbreak with the MMR vaccine controversy and a campaign in the South Wales Evening Post in the 1990s against the MMR vaccine,{{cite news |title=Measles outbreak sees 'missing generation' queuing for MMR jab |author-last=Meikle |author-first=J. |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/apr/17/measles-outbreak-mmr-jab |newspaper=The Guardian |date=17 April 2013 |access-date=20 April 2013}}{{Cite journal |author-last=McCartney |author-first=M. |doi=10.1136/bmj.f2598 |title=MMR, measles, and the South Wales Evening Post |journal=The BMJ |volume=346 |pages=f2598 |date=2013 |pmid=23610382 |s2cid=34263104 }} as the majority of those who became infected were not immunised as infants during the MMR scare.{{cite news |title=The Price of the Autism-Measles Panic, 15 Years Later |author-last=Willingham |author-first=E. |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2013/07/21/the-price-of-the-autism-measles-panic-15-years-later/ |newspaper=Forbes |date=21 July 2013 |access-date=30 July 2013}} Uptake of the MMR vaccine fell from 94% of two-year-olds in Wales in 1995 to 78% by 2003. In the Swansea area the uptake fell to 67.5%. The South Wales Evening Post was also criticised for appearing to exaggerate the number of confirmed measles cases that occurred during the epidemic.

In the wake of the outbreak MMR clinics were set up in four hospitals in Swansea and Neath-Port Talbot and vaccinated over 35,000 people. Several politicians, including Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones, urged the public to make sure their children were vaccinated.{{cite news |title=Swansea measles: First Minister urges MMR jabs for children |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22258153 |publisher=BBC News |date=23 April 2013 |access-date=24 April 2013}} Politicians and vaccine experts also called for mandatory vaccinations to be implemented.{{cite news |title=Measles: Make MMR jab mandatory' call by US expert |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22089485 |publisher=BBC News |date=10 April 2013 |access-date=24 April 2013}}{{cite news |title=Swansea measles: Ex-health minister Edwina Currie backs mandatory jabs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22238818 |publisher=BBC News |date=21 April 2013 |access-date=24 April 2013}} The Welsh Government opposed mandatory vaccination, believing that trust in the MMR vaccine had been regained and could be damaged if it were mandatory.

Hywel Dda Health Board offered the vaccine in April 2013 in the surrounding counties of Carmarthen, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire in a bid to contain the outbreak. Vaccinations were held in all comprehensive schools in Powys. There were concerns that the epidemic could spread to London and infect many more people,{{cite news |title='Very large outbreak' of measles could hit London |author-last=Legge |author-first=J. |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/very-large-outbreak-of-measles-could-hit-london-8591561.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/very-large-outbreak-of-measles-could-hit-london-8591561.html |archive-date=1 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |work=The Independent |date=28 April 2013 |access-date=1 May 2013}}{{cbignore}} prompting the Department of Health to set up a mass vaccination campaign targeted at one million school children throughout England.{{cite news |title=Measles vaccination plan in England targets 1m children |author-last=Gallagher |author-first=J. |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22276975 |publisher=BBC News |date=25 April 2013 |access-date=1 May 2013}}

The following table shows measles notifications by the Local Health Board.

Reported notifications tend to exceed confirmed cases. Public Health Wales issued a statement saying, "Measles is one of a number of notifiable diseases. Doctors in Wales have a statutory duty to notify a 'Proper Officer' of the Local Authority of suspected cases of measles based on clinical symptoms, usually before diagnosis has been confirmed by laboratory testing. Reported notifications of measles usually far exceed the actual numbers of confirmed cases. Other rashes are often mistaken for measles".{{cite web |url=http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgId=457&pid=25444 |title=Measles |access-date=11 May 2013}}

• Outbreak
• Pulse vaccination strategy
• Vaccine-naive

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/888/page/66806 Timeline of Measles Outbreak Centred on Swansea Area], Public Health Wales.

{{Epidemics}}

{{Vaccine safety}}

{{Health in Wales}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swansea measles epidemic, 2013}}

Category:Measles outbreaks

Category:2013 in Wales

Category:2013 disease outbreaks

Category:21st century in Swansea

Category:2010s epidemics

Category:2013 disasters in the United Kingdom

Category:Disease outbreaks in Wales