Parents urged to check their children’s immunisation records.

Public Health England (PHE) have revealed one in seven four and five year olds are starting school without having had their routine immunisations.
Within the UK, children are given their first dose of the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) Vaccine when they are about 12 months old. A second dose is given at around 3 years four months just before they start school, alongside the 4-in-1 preschool booster to protect against diphtheria, whooping cough tetanus and polio.
Public Health England have estimated that around one in nineteen five year olds haven’t had their first MMR Vaccine dose, with one in seven still waiting to receive their second vaccination against the diseases. These ‘worrying’ estimations taken from the Value for Vaccine Campaign are leaving children at significantly more risk compared to some of their class mates.
‘We’re continuing to see outbreaks of measles across the country which have been linked to visits to European countries over the summer holidays.” Said Dr Mary Ramsey, Head of Immunisation at Public Health England. “As parents prepare their children for primary school, we urge them to check there is a record of two MMR doses and a vaccination for the 4-in-1 booster vaccine. If this is not the case, a quick phone call to your GP to arrange the vaccination is all that is needed to give their child full protection.”