Parents urged to ensure their children are immunised

Parents are being urged to protect their children from measles after an unexpectedly high number of cases this summer.

They are being called on to ensure their children have had both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab before they return to school.

The Health Protection agency has recorded 480 cases this year. HPA immunisation expert Dr Mary Ramsay says: 'We've been very worried because the cases have stayed up over the summer holidays. We've had quite a few cases in children of school age and we're worried those cases are going to take themselves into school when term starts soon.'

She continues: Although the numbers are still small, compared to the history of measles, we're always worried about measles because very rarely it can kill. 'We hadn't had any deaths from measles since the early 1990s but unfortunately we had one death last year and we don't want any more.'

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