Nottinghamshire County Council fears people ‘don’t know how bad diseases are’ as vaccination rate falters

Nottinghamshire’s sliding vaccination rates are being described as a ‘serious situation’ as the number of children being given jabs continues to miss targets.

Only 86% of children in the county have had the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to NHS figures — below the 95% needed to suppress outbreaks.

Measles can cause serious health problems, including blindness, seizures and meningitis.

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Public Health Committee on Monday (September 9) heard fears that residents had forgotten the dangers posed by the easily-preventable illnesses.

Steve Carr said vaccination rates were a “serious situation” — particularly with measles.

He added: “The present generation has become sanitised from these illness.

“My parents’ generation grew up with these illnesses before vaccination — they knew people with diphtheria, whooping cough and measles.

“People don’t understand how bad they are any more.

“My cousin is deaf in one ear from measles as a child. My neighbour has currently had whooping cough for 120 days.

“If a child or baby gets it, it’s a big risk. It’s extremely important to get that message across.”

A measles outbreak spread across the West Midlands earlier this year, partly driven by low vaccination rates.

The MMR jab is freely available through the NHS.

Scott Carlton, the cabinet member for communities and public health, said: “We saw in the pandemic how social influenced attitudes to vaccination.

“For example, when Councillor Doddy was campaigning for water chlorination, we saw the response. There’s always the counter argument which can sometimes be misinformation.”

Vivienne Robbins, acting public health director, said it was particularly important for pregnant women to be protected, as measles can cause miscarriage or premature birth.

“There can be tragic cases for young children,” she said.

Philip Owen added: “We are continuing to see the adverse effect from the MMR controversy”, referring to a discredited study claiming that jab was linked to autism.

Despite being retracted long ago, it is credited as undermining trust in vaccinations for years.

Vaccination levels also vary across the county, with only 84% of two-year-olds having had the MMR jabs in Nottingham.

Mansfield, Worksop and Newark also have lower uptake rates.

A total of 95% of a population need to be vaccinated to provide ‘herd immunity’, which provides protection for those who are unable to be vaccinated themselves.