A WOMAN who caught measles and was left needing a feeding tube is calling for others to get jabbed.
Ellie Roscoe only had the first of two MMR jabs as a child due to scares, since disproved, over their links with autism.
BBCEllie missed out on the second MMR jab when she was a child[/caption]
ITVEllie was rushed to hospital after she fell severely ill with a “horrendous head-to-toe rash[/caption]
Six years after catching the disease, Ellie is still suffering from life-altering complications.
As measles cases surge across the country, Ellie said a second “30-second jab” is worth it.
There were 1,603 suspected cases of measles in England and Wales in 2023, a sharp increase from 735 cases in 2022 and 360 in 2021.
In the largest surge of cases outside the capital, the West Midlands has confirmed 216 infections, with 103 “likely” cases.
Health officials are urging people to have the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab, after figures revealed uptake at the lowest level for over a decade.
When she was 23, Ellie was rushed to hospital after she fell severely ill with a “horrendous head-to-toe rash“, a severe cough and a temperature of over 39C.
Without treatment, doctors at Heartlands Hospital said the young woman would have died, as the disease had spread to her lungs and liver.
She told the BBC that measles was “10 times worse” than having Covid.
Ellie now has auto-immune and digestive issues, which left her unable to eat without a feeding tube.
Doctors can’t say for sure if Ellie’s new conditions stemmed from measles, but viral illness is known to cause the gastro disease she has developed, Ellie said.
She did not realise adults could still be vaccinated and assumed it was just young children who were eligible.
Ellie is now calling everyone who has missed a jab to get vaccinated.
She said: “I would say to somebody for the sake of going to get a 30-second jab rather than going through measles and living with potential health problems for the rest of their lives, I would go and do it.”
There is high susceptibility to the bug among 19- to 26-year-olds, many of whom missed vaccination when young due to unfounded worries about the vaccine in the early 2000s.
Many parents did not take their children for the two shots of MMR vaccine at the time when Andrew Wakefield published a paper in the medical journal The Lancet suggesting an unfounded link between the MMR vaccine and autism and bowel disease.
His paper and the links between the jab and the two conditions have since been debunked.
National incident
The UKHSA has declared the measles outbreak a national incident, allowing it to put more resources into tackling low vaccine coverage.
NHS figures show that uptake of both MMR doses by age five was 83.7 per cent in the West Midlands, with the figure even lower in London at 74 per cent.
Up to 102,000 children in England aged four and five started reception this year without being jabbed, meaning they are at high risk.
To boost vaccine uptake, new pop-up clinics are being introduced in parts of the UK, amid fears a rise in cases will spread to other parts of the country.
MMR vaccinations and when to have them
IT’S important that jabs are given on time for the best protection, but if you or your child missed a vaccine, contact your GP to catch up
MMR is part of the NHS Routine Childhood Immunisation Programme.
The first dose is offered at one year, and the second dose at three years and four months.
Parents whose infants missed out, or anyone of any age who has not yet had a vaccine, are urged to come forward.
If you don’t know if you or your child isn’t up to date with their jabs, call your GP for an appointment.
You can catch up on missed vaccines at any age.
Source: UKHSA
What happens if you catch measles?
The typical signs of measles include a high fever, a blotchy red or brown rash, sore, red and watery eyes, coughing and sneezing.
The disease usually clears up on its own after ten days.
But in some cases, it can travel to other parts of the body, like the lungs or brain, and cause serious illness.
Complications can include pneumonia, meningitis, blindness, seizures, and death.
Babies and young children, pregnant women and those with a weakened immune system are more at risk.
It’s very unlikely to be measles if you’ve had both MMR vaccine doses or had measles before.
Those with mild symptoms are asked not to visit their GP or hospital but to call the NHS on 111.
In the last week of December, 55 suspected cases were reported in England and Wales