18/04/2013

Measles Outbreak Now Over 800 Cases

The ongoing measles outbreak in Swansea has now increased to 808 cases.

43 more cases of the disease have been reported since Tuesday, Public Health Wales (PHW) has said.

An MMR vaccination campaign was launched in schools in parts of mid and south Wales, but local health officials have said the campaign had got off to a "disappointing" start.

Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, Dr Sara Hayes, director of public health for Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board, said: "You can imagine vaccinations being given in general practice and in drop-in sessions as well as in schools, so it's a moving target basically.

"But we think it's probably only about 30 to 40% uptake so far.

"We'll being doing much more analysis over the next few weeks but, yes, we are disappointed we didn't get a higher uptake on our first day so we're meeting today and tomorrow to see what we can do about it."

(H/CD)


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