Surrey parents urged to get their kids vaccinated for measles this half-term
Surrey's Director of Public Health says local vaccine rates are long way away from where they need to be
There's a push this half term for Surrey parents to get their kids up to date with their measles vaccine.
It's part of a drive from the NHS after soaring infection rates across the country - including 56 documented cases in the last week.
This brings the total number since October last year, up to 521.
The World Health Organisation says the population needs to have a 95% vaccine rate to reach herd immunity and get rid of the virus.
Ruth Hutchinson - Director of Public Health for Surrey - says the local situation is a long way from reaching this goal:
"The vaccine uptake in Surrey for MMR1, because remember there are 2 vaccines, for those of 2 years is 71%.
"At 5 years its 92%, and for MMR2 at 5 years its 77% - so you can see we have got room for improvement.
"So we really want everybody, parents in particular to check their kids' little red book and make sure they've had 2 doses of MMR."
Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said:
"As expected, due to worryingly low MMR vaccine uptake in some areas across the country, we are now starting to see clusters of cases in other regions.
"While parents are coming forward to take up the offer of the MMR vaccine for their children, there are still hundreds of thousands of children who remain unprotected and therefore remain at risk of serious complications or life-long disability, but measles is completely preventable with vaccination.
"I strongly urge parents to take up the offer of the MMR vaccine now to make sure their child is protected."