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National Public Health Service for Wales
Measles
PRESS RELEASE
NPHS investigates Measles cases
The National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS) is reminding parents of the
importance of the MMR vaccine as it investigates a number of cases of Measles
across Wales.
A total of 15 cases of the disease have been reported in the Carmarthenshire and
Cardiff areas and are believed to be linked.
Thirteen of the cases are in students and staff at Newcastle Emlyn Comprehensive
School, Carmarthenshire, where pupils are being offered the MMR vaccination if they
have not already received it.
Letters have been sent to other people believed to have come into contact with those
diagnosed with Measles.
Parents are being urged to be aware of the symptoms of Measles and to arrange for
their children to receive the full two-dose course of the MMR vaccination if they have
not yet been immunised.
Dr Roland Salmon, Director of the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre within
the NPHS, said: “Any upsurge in Measles cases is of concern to us as this is a
potentially serious disease that can be fatal or can have permanent consequences such
as brain damage.
“Children normally receive the first dose of the vaccine at the age of one, and the
second before they start primary school.
“Parents who think their children may have missed one or both doses of the vaccine
should speak to their GP or health visitor immediately as without vaccination,
children are at risk.”
Version: 1
Author: Anna Humphries
Date: 6th October
2008
Page: 1 of 3
Status: Approved
National Public Health Service for Wales
Measles
Measles is highly contagious and is generally spread from person to person by coughs
and sneezes.
Early symptoms include a high temperature, cough and conjunctivitis (painful, red
eyes), and a red, blotchy rash that appears approximately three days later, usually
beginning on the face and spreading down over the rest of the body.
Any child who develops symptoms of measles should not attend school for five days
after the start of the rash.
General information on Measles disease may be obtained from the NPHS website at
www.nphs.wales.nhs.uk or from NHS Direct on 0845 46 47.
ENDS
CONTACT: Anna Humphries (01443 824177). Out of hours: Jo Menzies
on07890 056852.
Editor’s notes
1. The National Public Health Service for Wales provides the resources, information
and advice to enable the Welsh Assembly Government, Health Commission Wales,
Local Health Boards, Local Authorities and NHS Trusts to discharge their statutory
public health functions. To do this, the NPHS delivers a full range of public health
services, seeking to:



Improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Wales and reduce
inequalities in health;
Protect against existing, new and emerging diseases and health threats; and
Contribute to improvement in health and social care services.
2. Measles is an acute highly infectious viral illness caught through direct contact
with an infected person or through the air via droplets from coughs or sneezes.
Symptoms include fever, cold-like symptoms, fatigue, conjunctivitis and a distinctive
red-brown rash.
Measles mainly affects young children but can be caught at any age. Having measles
once usually confers lifelong immunity to catching it again.
Measles can be a very serious disease and cause severe, even life-threatening,
complications. In the UK, complications are quite common even in healthy people
and approximately 20 per cent of reported measles cases experience one or more
complication.
Version: 1
Author: Anna Humphries
Date: 6th October
2008
Page: 2 of 3
Status: Approved
National Public Health Service for Wales
Measles
Complications are more common among children under five years of age, those with
weakened immune systems, children with a poor diet, and adults. Catching measles in
pregnancy can cause miscarriage, premature labour or a baby with a low birth weight.
Before the introduction of measles vaccination in 1968, around 100 children a year in
England and Wales died from the disease.
The target for MMR vaccine uptake, in line with other childhood vaccines, is 95 per
cent. Wales has not yet achieved the 95 per cent target for MMR uptake.
Version: 1
Author: Anna Humphries
Date: 6th October
2008
Page: 3 of 3
Status: Approved