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Promoting vaccination uptake

01 April 2024
Last Word
02 April 2024
Volume 12 | Journal of Family Health · Issue 3

Abstract

Health visitors play a crucial role in supporting families to access evidence-based information and make informed decisions about vaccinating children, as Bethany Boddy explains

Health professionals and the general public have been advised that measles cases in the UK have been increasing. Between October 2023 and March 2024 in England there have been 789 cases of laboratory confirmed cases of measles (GOV.UK, 2024).

The West Midlands has accounted for the majority of the cases but other cases are being reported in clusters in other areas of the UK (GOV.UK, 2024). The majority of these cases have been in children under the age of 10 (63%) (GOV.UK, 2024).

The increase in reported cases has led to NHS England launching a major drive to invite those not fully vaccinated to come forward and catch up on missed doses (NHS, 2024). Measles is one of the world's most infectious diseases, with one infected person infectious to approximately 15 unvaccinated people. Measles has serious risks of complications, and one in five children with the illness require hospital visits (NHS, 2024). Since the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1968 it is estimated that 20 million cases and 4500 deaths have been averted in the UK (Public Health England (PHE), 2019).

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