Health Protection Agency data shows there were 971 cases of measles in2007, compared with 740 in 2006.
A University College London study used data from the Millennium CohortStudy of 14,578 children born in the UK from 2000 to 2002 and looked atfactors associated with the uptake of MMR. The study found 88.6 per centreceived the MMR and 5.2 per cent had received at least one singleantigen vaccine, leaving 6.2 per cent unimmunised.
Helen Bedford, senior lecturer on children's health and co-author of thereport (search for MMR at www.bmj.com), said, 'It's important to say youneed two doses of MMR to be fully immunised, and it's never too late.Also, it is not standard practice to track immunisation, and it shouldbe. GPs should have a record and send reminders to parents.'
She said that children's centres and nurseries should be asking ifchildren had had the MMR vaccine when they enrolled, and that children'scentres should also offer the jab.
Uptake of MMR fell from a high of 92 per cent in 1995 to 79 per cent in2003, following public fears of a possible link with autism and otherdiseases.
Ms Bedford added, 'Measles is the most infectious of the three in MMRand you need 95 per cent uptake to guarantee herd immunity. It's quite aserious situation because, although the uptake is going up, there are alot of children who have been left out and remain vulnerable.'
The population of the London borough of Hackney is reckoned to be at themost risk in the UK, with only a 60 per cent uptake.
'It is quite difficult, because a lot of parents naturally only thinkabout their own child, but we have a responsibility to others as well,'said Ms Bedford. 'Rubella is not dangerous for most children but it canhave devastating consequences for pregnant women.'
