Vaccination programme leads to fall in measles cases

The number of measles cases in England has dropped in the final quarter of 2013 thanks to the success of a recent vaccination catch-up programme.

New figures from Public Health England reveal 24 confirmed cases of measles were reported during the final quarter of 2013, compared to 107 cases in the previous quarter and 559 cases from Q4 2012.

This comes after a national catch-up programme was announced by the government in April 2013 to improve MMR vaccination uptake in teenagers, after the number of cases hit an 18-year high.

The main objective of the programme was to ensure at least 95 percent of children aged ten to 16 years in England received at least one dose of MMR vaccine, a goal that was achieved by August 2013.

As such, MMR vaccine coverage in England has now reached its highest level since the therapy was introduced 25 years ago.

Dr Mary Ramsay, Public Health England's head of immunisation, said: "Measles is a potentially fatal, but entirely preventable, disease so we are delighted that measles cases have recently decreased in England."