Private school pupils are at greatest risk from the ongoing measles outbreak, one of Britain’s most senior doctors has warned.
Latest figures show the disease is a its highest level for almost two decades across England Photo: PA
Prof John Ashton, who represents the country’s public health doctors, said the combination of high numbers of middle-class children whose parents refused to have them vaccinated, plus overseas pupils with unknown health records, meant such schools could form “reservoirs of disease”, threatening the wider population. He said their pupils could pose a health threat to the rest of the population similar to that from groups such as gipsies and travellers, who have previously spread the infectious disease. He said Britain’s 600,000 children in private education were now at far greater risk from measles outbreaks than those in the state sector. Prof Ashton, who is soon to become president of the Faculty of Public Health, representing all public health doctors, said such children were falling victim to a number of combined risks. “You’ve got a lot of middle-class, well-off parents, large numbers of whom did not have their children immunised because of the Wakefield scare — which was a very middle-class phenomenon,” he said.
“Layered on top of that you have got a lot of children from abroad, especially from the Far East, from countries such as Hong Kong and China, and there are few checks being done to establish their immunisation records.”Prof Ashton issued the warning as the NHS embarks on a “catch-up” MMR campaign targeting about a million children who have not been vaccinated, especially those aged between 10 and 16, who missed jabs a decade ago following now discredited research linking the jab with autism.
Latest figures show the disease is at its highest level for almost two decades across England, with 587 cases, and in Wales, where more than 900 people have now been infected. Prof Ashton, who was director of public health in Cumbria until last year, said pupils and local communities were being put at risk from infectious diseases because independent schools were a “law unto themselves” and did not have proper policies to protect children. He said that state schools had closer links with the NHS, and worked together to promote vaccination campaigns, while private schools tended to be left to their own devices. He added that private schools were bad at keeping complete records showing the immunisation status of pupils sent to this country from abroad. Prof Ashton said: “The danger is that you have a population that can potentially become a reservoir of infection. Normally when you are talking about subsections of the population that are at particular risk of disease outbreaks, such as measles, you are talking about groups like gipsies and travellers — but actually children in private schools, and in particular at boarding schools, are one of the categories most at risk.” If an outbreak in a school took hold, it could also put the wider population at risk, he added. In an article published in The Lancet today, he wrote:
“Clusters of cases of measles and mumps in private schools might pose a threat to local populations, in the same way that other under-immunised groups, such as gipsies and travellers, can form a reservoir.” Prof Ashton was the director of health in Cumbria last September when there was a measles outbreak in Sedbergh School, a private mixed-sex establishment, which infected 66 pupils. When doctors were attempting to manage the outbreak they found that of the 66 cases, 31 involved pupils who had not been vaccinated, or had only been partly vaccinated, or whose records could not be established. Prof Ashton urged independent schools to urgently check the immunisation status of all pupils from overseas and to attempt to “engage with” families from this country who refused to vaccinate their children. Records show that around five per cent of pupils at independent schools are from overseas — with the highest numbers coming from Hong Kong, China, Germany and Russia, which all have different vaccination policies. Prof Ashton said independent schools were likely to contain high numbers of middle-class parents who were “in thrall to” Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who was struck off after publishing the discredited research.
Dr David Elliman, an immunisation specialist from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said health officials were now braced for school outbreaks, and that he believed there was a high chance that an outbreak would occur at an independent school. Christian Heinrich, chairman of the Boarding Schools’ Association, said the recent outbreak of measles had alerted everyone with responsibility for children’s health to the risks of children not being vaccinated. He added: “Most boarding schools will ask for a full health history on admission and in today’s climate may well ask permission to have a young person vaccinated now if necessary.”
source and credit a telegraph
Latest figures show the disease is a its highest level for almost two decades across England Photo: PA
Prof John Ashton, who represents the country’s public health doctors, said the combination of high numbers of middle-class children whose parents refused to have them vaccinated, plus overseas pupils with unknown health records, meant such schools could form “reservoirs of disease”, threatening the wider population. He said their pupils could pose a health threat to the rest of the population similar to that from groups such as gipsies and travellers, who have previously spread the infectious disease. He said Britain’s 600,000 children in private education were now at far greater risk from measles outbreaks than those in the state sector. Prof Ashton, who is soon to become president of the Faculty of Public Health, representing all public health doctors, said such children were falling victim to a number of combined risks. “You’ve got a lot of middle-class, well-off parents, large numbers of whom did not have their children immunised because of the Wakefield scare — which was a very middle-class phenomenon,” he said.
“Layered on top of that you have got a lot of children from abroad, especially from the Far East, from countries such as Hong Kong and China, and there are few checks being done to establish their immunisation records.”Prof Ashton issued the warning as the NHS embarks on a “catch-up” MMR campaign targeting about a million children who have not been vaccinated, especially those aged between 10 and 16, who missed jabs a decade ago following now discredited research linking the jab with autism.
Latest figures show the disease is at its highest level for almost two decades across England, with 587 cases, and in Wales, where more than 900 people have now been infected. Prof Ashton, who was director of public health in Cumbria until last year, said pupils and local communities were being put at risk from infectious diseases because independent schools were a “law unto themselves” and did not have proper policies to protect children. He said that state schools had closer links with the NHS, and worked together to promote vaccination campaigns, while private schools tended to be left to their own devices. He added that private schools were bad at keeping complete records showing the immunisation status of pupils sent to this country from abroad. Prof Ashton said: “The danger is that you have a population that can potentially become a reservoir of infection. Normally when you are talking about subsections of the population that are at particular risk of disease outbreaks, such as measles, you are talking about groups like gipsies and travellers — but actually children in private schools, and in particular at boarding schools, are one of the categories most at risk.” If an outbreak in a school took hold, it could also put the wider population at risk, he added. In an article published in The Lancet today, he wrote:
“Clusters of cases of measles and mumps in private schools might pose a threat to local populations, in the same way that other under-immunised groups, such as gipsies and travellers, can form a reservoir.” Prof Ashton was the director of health in Cumbria last September when there was a measles outbreak in Sedbergh School, a private mixed-sex establishment, which infected 66 pupils. When doctors were attempting to manage the outbreak they found that of the 66 cases, 31 involved pupils who had not been vaccinated, or had only been partly vaccinated, or whose records could not be established. Prof Ashton urged independent schools to urgently check the immunisation status of all pupils from overseas and to attempt to “engage with” families from this country who refused to vaccinate their children. Records show that around five per cent of pupils at independent schools are from overseas — with the highest numbers coming from Hong Kong, China, Germany and Russia, which all have different vaccination policies. Prof Ashton said independent schools were likely to contain high numbers of middle-class parents who were “in thrall to” Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who was struck off after publishing the discredited research.
Dr David Elliman, an immunisation specialist from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said health officials were now braced for school outbreaks, and that he believed there was a high chance that an outbreak would occur at an independent school. Christian Heinrich, chairman of the Boarding Schools’ Association, said the recent outbreak of measles had alerted everyone with responsibility for children’s health to the risks of children not being vaccinated. He added: “Most boarding schools will ask for a full health history on admission and in today’s climate may well ask permission to have a young person vaccinated now if necessary.”
source and credit a telegraph
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